Rising Star
by JudasFm
Summary: Based on Sonic 2. For years Tails has been wishing on stars for one thing: a friend. When a certain blue hedgehog arrives on the scene he thinks his wish has come true, but Robotnik isn't far behind and soon Tails' world is plunged into chaos. Please R&R!
1. Falling Stars

**Okay, this is my version of _Sonic the Hedgehog 2_ (Genesis)...I'm working on doing _Sonic 1_ (Master System) and _Sonic 3_ as well, but this was the first one I managed. Just so you know, it starts a little while before the game does...hope you enjoy it and please leave a review :D**

_Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight._

Miles Prower, whose friends called him Tails (or at least, he liked to imagine that they would if he ever managed to find any friends) looked up at the star in question. He liked that star. He felt it was _his_ star; as far as he knew, nobody else had ever wished on it, which meant it was more likely to be amenable to his request. After all, stars must like to feel special just like everyone else.

"Hi. It's me again. Caud an' his friends smashed my toy today. I'd on'y jus' finished building it too. He's real mean all the time. I got another toy though in my cave but I can't bring it out in case he smashes that one too. I know you're prob'ly real busy doing starry things an' shining an' stuff, but I jus' wanna ask you if it's gonna be like this forever. I know I'm on'y s'posed to wish on falling stars but you haven't fallen yet an' I don't blame you 'cause falling hurts. Last time I fell I scraped my knee real bad. I dunno if you stars have knees, but I know you move through the night so I guess you got legs, right?" The star twinkled down at him impassively and Tails sighed. "'S jus'...I'm not asking you to fall jus' for me, but can you mebbe talk to some of your star friends an' pass this on in case _they_ fall an' I'm not around to see? That'd be okay, right? If I don't see 'em to wish but you do an' you wish for me? 'Cause you know what I want, I been wishing for it over an' over an' over. Well, 'cept for last night an' I'm real sorry about that but it was real cloudy an' I couldn't see you to wish. So anyway, yeah." He cleared his throat. "I wish someone'd come along who didn't wanna smash ev'rything I make. Someone to play with, 'cause the other kids don't want me around. Jus' someone who wanted to be my friend. Please?"

No response. There was no magical flash of light, no apparition. He sighed.

"Okay...well, thanks for listening anyway. I know you're trying your best. An' if one of your friends does fall, c'n you pass my wish on please?"

As if in answer to his request, something drew the fox's attention upwards to where a streak of bright yellow light was heading straight towards Westside Island. Quickly, the fox repeated the wish silently, just in case this was it. Again, there was no response, and Tails supposed it hadn't counted. You were only supposed to wish on one star per night. But falling was something people did all the time – at least, he seemed to, especially after pounce attacking someone – so stars probably fell just as much and maybe he could get in on the next one.

In this, Tails was completely and utterly wrong. Stars don't fall often; they only fall once, and only when they die. Falling stars usually leave a bright streak of light behind them as well, and are somewhat rare. Falling stars which leave a trail of thick grey smoke behind them are very rare indeed. Falling stars which leave a trail of thick grey smoke behind them accompanied by a sound like _putta-putta-putta-CLUNK_ are even rarer.

And falling stars which leave a trail of thick grey smoke behind them accompanied by a sound like _putta-putta-putta-CLUNK _and which also scream at the top of their voices, "_Oh crap not the water not the water please please please don't let me land in the water oh man I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonnaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAH_!" are just about unique.

The object in question clipped the trees, spun over, bounced off three separate rocks and finally slid to a halt in a secluded cove that was really only accessible by air. If Tails had been there, he would have been in for one hell of a disappointment; the 'star' was no more than a red biplane, and a pretty battered one at that.

It was still capable of a little more drama, however, firstly when the one remaining engine cut out completely and secondly when the pilot's hand – which was running on automatic and a little bit behind current events – located the ejector lever and pulled it hard. There was a _clank_, a rapidly ascending cry of "_Ohhhshiiii—_" followed by a _crunch_ as the pilot performed a second, more personal crash landing in the forest.

Some two hundred yards ahead and only vaguely aware of any of this, Tails was making his way back to his cave. The falling star had been pretty cool and had lent a bit of excitement to his evening, but now it was over. Time to go back, maybe put the finishing touches on his new toy. Tails didn't think the other kids would want to play with him any more than they had before, but he still lived in hope.

While he was making plans in his head – which often slanted off into wistful daydreams – he heard the sound of something coming up fast behind him. Afraid one of the kids might be trying to bodyslam him (which had happened before, on numerous occasions) Tails dived to his left, landing in a pricklebush just as whatever it was flashed past with a loud _whoosh_, scattering leaves all over.

Somewhat stunned, Tails turned his head a little in an effort to see who it was, but he was already too late; the runner was already out of sight and he had a more pressing problem, namely how to get out of this pricklebush without leaving chunks of him behind. His thick fur had protected him from most of the thorns, although a couple scratched his sensitive ears and he winced, then struggled to his feet, leaving a fair amount of tan fluff in the bush.

"Wow." His own voice echoed emptily in his ears after the rush of air. "What was _that_?"

There was no answer. Tails looked down at the ground, which had a scorched black trail behind it, then made up his mind and started to race along it. Maybe the star had fallen around here. Maybe if it was hurt and he helped it, maybe then it would grant his wish instantly...Tails ran faster, not stopping until he practically dropped with exhaustion down by the trail. Not good. Too tired to get to his cave, let alone his secret place...he'd have to nap right here and hope that nobody came along. Most people ignored him, but some would wake him and make him move and others would throw things at him. His cave was safer and his secret place was the safest of all but...Tails fell asleep while still wondering if he had enough energy to get to one of those places after all.

When he woke up, it was early morning and his fur was soaked in dew. Moving stiffly, Tails sat up and yawned. What was he doing here? Oh, that's right; he'd been following the star's trail, hadn't he?

The star! No longer sleepy, Tails scrambled to his feet and started to race down the trail again. He didn't know where stars went when the sun came up, but if this one was hurt, maybe it couldn't get there. Maybe if he helped the star it would take him too. That thought made him run faster.

The sound of approaching footsteps caused him to slow down and finally stop, glancing from left to right. A lifetime of being called a freak had left Tails with an innate desire to avoid people wherever he could and he dived to the ground, hurriedly wriggling under a bush and turning to look out.

A pair of red and white sneakers appeared in his line of sight a mere six inches away from his nose and Tails angled his head up, trying to see who owned them.

Whoever it was, he or she hadn't seen Tails; after a few seconds they started walking away and Tails poked his head up cautiously.

A hedgehog. That was uncommon in Emerald Hill Zone but not unheard of. At least...Tails supposed the stranger was a hedgehog, although it would probably be more accurate to say that he clearly wasn't anything else. The fox had never seen a hedgehog with so few quills, though – the seven or eight this guy had were somehow melded out of all the others to form blades more than actual quills – and a _blue_ hedgehog...well, that was weird in the extreme.

A sudden thought struck Tails; maybe the star had sent this guy after all. Maybe that yellow light had been a star's form of transport or something.

Excited now, Tails started to pad after the stranger as noiselessly as he could. A blue hedgehog...something about that was familiar, although he couldn't think what.

A twig snapped under his foot and the stranger whirled so fast that Tails barely even saw him move. Frightened by the suddenness of the motion, thinking it to be the prelude to some sort of attack, Tails spun on his heel and bolted for the comparative shelter of a coconut palm, scrabbling at its trunk and ascending more through dint of sheer determination than any climbing skill. Once he was safely ensconced at the top of the tree, he risked peeking out to see that the person he'd been trailing after hadn't moved.

"Hey, easy there li'l guy, nobody's gonna hurt you." The stranger craned his head back, shading his eyes against the bright sun, and looked up into the tree. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you. C'mon down."

Tails shifted his weight, scrambling backwards, then turned and buried himself further into the palm tree. He knew both his namesakes were sticking out, but he couldn't do anything about that; coconut palms weren't exactly known for their thick foliage.

The stranger laughed, not unpleasantly. "Okay kid, you stay up there if you want. I gotta get going anyway; if I don't find a good repair shop, I'll never get off this island. A fox with two tails?" Tails heard him mutter to himself. "Man, that's weird!"

Tails cringed. Why, _why_ did he have to notice that? It was probably best this way; if this new guy didn't see him again, he wouldn't be able to point fingers at Tails and call him a freak.

Why did he have two tails, anyway? Oh sure, they were good for flying with, but he'd trade the flying for being one of the crowd any day of the week. And nobody cared about all the stuff he could make either, except as something to smash. Tails had stopped offering to share his toys after the last one had been crushed, but it didn't make any difference; if they found them and him with them, they still smashed them.

As Tails watched, the stranger turned and jogged away. Curiosity temporarily overcoming shyness – Emerald Hill Zone didn't get many visitors – Tails slithered down the palm tree and started to pad after him again. Blue hedgehog...blue hedgehog...yep, there was something familiar about that. He knew he'd seen this guy or at least a picture of him before somewhere.

If he could just remember his name...

**So it's kinda short, but hey, the first chapter always is. More will be along very soon ;) Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and if you read, please review!**


	2. Conversations with a Hero

**Kj: Thanks, I'll try :)**

**XTailsX: Jeez, one chapter in and you want the sequel already? (weg) :P**

**FriedBrickWall: Yes, after a month of having it on my PC and wondering should I put it up or not, I finally made da fic :D Glad you enjoy it :) As to your other request...well, I think I've fulfilled that one too :P**

**Sonic-Addict: I will, don't worry ;)**

**Awdures: Thanks**

**KirbyChan263: Okay, here. One update, as requested ;)**

When Tails opened his eyes, it took him a good few minutes to work out where he was and, more importantly, how he'd got there. The ground was cool and kept moving and...oh great, he'd fallen asleep on the beach again. Now his fur was all sandy.

Glancing up, he saw that it was late at night. Both the moons were glowing brightly and thousands of stars were now sprinkled across the dark sky. It was cold but not excessively, so what had woken him up?

He got his answer a few minutes later as it happened again; someone moaned low in their throat from behind some rocks. Tails looked in that direction curiously, then got to his feet and started to trudge back to his cave. He could find the star in the morning. Right now he was almost asleep on his feet and he didn't want to hang around, not when people were moaning like that. Tails had never been able to figure out exactly why they moaned when they clutched each other like that, or why they got so upset when they saw him standing nearby, but he'd take a hint. The last people he'd caught doing that had cuffed him across the face, admittedly not hard enough to do anything more than leave a nasty bruise, but it had still put Tails off the idea of spying on anyone else.

Tired and stumbling, he somehow made his way back up to his cave, only to find that the waterfall concealing it and the lake in front were both frozen solid. Tails sighed. He'd known this would happen sooner or later. The entrance inside – he'd found an underwater tunnel that came out in a small pond in the cave – was probably alright, but with no way of swimming, there was no way he could get in there. Nothing to do now except wait for it to melt.

Tails turned and started picking his way through the dense forest to his secret place. He wasn't so keen on sleeping there, but at least nobody else had ever found it and he could snooze without being disturbed.

Looking around to make sure nobody was following him, he lay flat down on the ground and starting spinning both tails over his head. It took longer than usual to feel himself lift (he really _was_ tired) and he bumped into the walls a couple of times before making it inside where he didn't fall asleep so much as collapse.

When he woke up, the sun was just starting to come up and he was ravenously hungry. Hm. Well, it was only the beginning of winter, maybe he could still manage to scrounge some food from the few tourists who remained.

Poking his head out through the fronds that concealed his secret place, Tails leapt and started whirring both namesakes. He supposed he liked flying – that drop followed by a slow lift that got faster and faster was _real_ cool! – but it didn't make the Emerald Hill Zone residents any more tolerant of him.

Had his folks been able to fly? Tails didn't know. He barely remembered them now; it seemed like he'd been living all alone forever, although in reality it had only been a little under two years. Both parents were dead, he remembered that much, and he remembered that he'd been made to leave their nice house. He'd tried to go back several times, but on the most recent occasion the people living there now had thrown something at him. Tails hadn't exactly minded this – the something had been a pella fruit, and it had been nice and ripe too – but he had got the message that he was no longer allowed back. He sighed, nostalgic now. He hoped the people living there were taking good care of his toys. He'd been busy making other toys (all now neatly sealed inside the cave and likely to remain that way until the spring melt) but he still missed his old ones.

A flash of colour against the white sand caught his attention and Tails flew down to investigate, landing on the beach. He didn't do it all that smoothly, and the unexpected jolt sent him sprawling, rolling down almost on top of his potential breakfast. Nervous now – he'd found that people got _really_ mad if you woke them up, which was all part of what he'd dubbed the Pounce Attack Game but not a good thing if you were trying to sneak around – he scrambled back, then caught sight of the person he'd almost flattened and froze.

The blue hedgehog was there, lying on his back with hands folded complacently over his chest, eyes closed. That wasn't what interested Tails though (at least, not wholly); next to the stranger was a bag that was half full of prawn crackers and the remains of what looked like half a dozen spare ribs in cold and semi-congealed satay sauce. Mouth watering – this could last him all day if he rationed himself – Tails started towards the food very slowly. It was early, and he had no idea why this hedgehog had slept on the beach instead of going home, but that didn't matter; all Tails cared about was filling the gaping hole in his stomach.

Reaching out, the tips of his fingers had barely brushed the bag when the stranger stirred suddenly and Tails froze, paralysed to the spot. Oh boy. He didn't want to be caught; last time that had happened the person he'd been borrowing the food from had thrown a rock at him and chased him all down the beach. Tails had barely managed to escape.

After what seemed an eternity, the hedgehog settled down again and Tails let out a long, silent breath, then frowned. That nagging feeling was there...he _knew_ this guy from somewhere. Determined to solve the mystery, food temporarily forgotten (although he kept a tight hold on it) Tails padded forward and stared down into the hedgehog's face, frowning in concentration.

He thought he might be starting to remember when the stranger suddenly opened green eyes to look up at him and said, "Hi."

Tails actually yelped in surprise and scrambled back, tripped over one tail, went head over heels and came to rest upside down at the base of a tree, the food scattered over the sand.

The hedgehog sat up, grinning. "Hey, c'mon, I don't bite." He got to his feet, moving at a leisurely pace which said he had all day to perform this one simple act and wanted to make sure the whole world knew it. Still grinning, arms folded and head cocked on one side, he said, "You sure are a jumpy little guy, aren't you?"

Tails, who had been in the middle of trying to scrabble up the tree, hesitated and looked around. The stranger's smile broadened.

"So, after following me around all last night, are you at least gonna tell me your name now?"

Tails looked away, scuffing one foot shyly in the sand. Now it came down to it, someone appeared to have put his tongue in a vice; he couldn't have spoken a single word to save his life. Oh boy. He didn't think this guy had spotted him trailing behind, at least, not after that first encounter.

"Can you talk?"

Tails nodded vigorously.

"Well, that's something at least." The hedgehog quirked an eye ridge at him. "You're kinda young to be out here all by yourself, aren't you? How old are you?"

The fox opened his mouth, tried to answer, failed and settled for holding up fingers.

"Three?"

Tails withdrew the fingers, frowned as he studied them more carefully, then added a fourth.

"Four? Okay. So were you following me all that time to throw my breakfast everywhere, or was there some other reason?" The hedgehog's tone was friendly enough, but Tails wasn't sure he could trust it. Some of the other kids had been friendly like that, just trying to get him to drop his guard, and so he shrugged. It seemed the safest option.

"Well, if there's any left and you're that hungry, go ahead and take it. Me, I gotta get going. See you around, kid."

Half turning, he sped away and Tails started fishing in the sand for some of the crackers. He'd managed to keep a few safely in the bag, but the others...well, he'd just have to brush the sand off. It wasn't the first time he'd done it and he was sure it wouldn't be the last either.

Looking up, he found he could see his star, albeit very faintly. As far as wishing went, _star light, star bright, first star I see this morning_ didn't have quite the same ring to it, but it was worth a try.

"I gotta 'nother wish," Tails said confidentially. "I know you were real nice 'cause you sent this guy but...well...I wish I could talk to him. Mebbe stars don't get shy but I do an' I wanna be able to say something before he gets bored and leaves. Else how's he s'posed to know I wanna be friends?"

There was no response from the star (not that that was anything new) but Tails thought it had heard. Comforted, he went back to his secret place and started breakfast. The food was cold, oily, greasy and Tails soon discovered that he didn't like satay sauce, but he choked it down. You had to eat it while it was there 'cause it might not be tomorrow.

It was only after he'd wolfed down the last of the prawn crackers that he remembered he'd been going to save some of it for that night. Well...he could get more food. And he had a full stomach at the moment, and – as with most youngsters – with Tails it was the here and now that mattered.

Feeling stuffed and sleepy, he curled up and was soon napping soundly.

When he awoke, it was hot and he was unaccountably restless. Oh boy. Time for another pounce attack.

Emerging from his secret place, he jumped, whirring his tails just enough to stop him plummeting to the ground, then landed with scarcely more grace and dignity than he'd managed earlier that morning. Unabashed – after all, there'd been nobody around to see him – he set off in search of a target.

It didn't take him long before he found a likely one, and he crouched down low, hind end up in the air, tails curling around each other, eyes focused determinedly on his quarry. These creatures were deadly if you didn't grab them straightaway, and if you only wounded them, well, you might live to regret it, if you were lucky. Inching forward very slowly, Tails took a deep breath, then pounced enthusiastically.

He missed the butterfly by a good six inches, and his own momentum carried him forwards and head over heels into a tall purple plant with a startled _Yip_! Getting to his feet and dusting himself off (and saying aloud to anyone who might be listening that he _meant_ to do that) Tails watched as his target fluttered off, apparently quite content.

Well, if the butterfly didn't wanna play Tag (and for some strange reason, they never seemed to) he'd just have to find someone who did!

Determined, Tails started towards the beach, where there were several people soaking up the tropical sun. Not for the first time, the fox wished he could live on the beach, in the nice warm sand, as opposed to having to hide in his cave high in the mountains.

Well, first things first. Play now, think later! Tails looked around, frowning in concentration. Now, who hadn't he pounce attacked...?

The Pounce Attack Game was slightly dangerous, but so far it was the only way he'd found of getting someone to play with him. Pounce on someone on the beach and try and get them mad enough to chase you. It was a problem if they caught you, but so far he'd always been able to outrun them, and get to his secret place.

Catching sight of someone who was sunbathing a fair way away from the rest of the crowds, Tails' ears perked forward.

A new guy! Well, not really new; the same guy who'd spoken to him before. He could be easy to bug into chasing, especially since he was probably still mad about Tails spilling his breakfast. The ideal candidate for a pounce attack...Tails was too excited, too intent upon his target to notice that he himself was being stalked.

"Hey, off the beach, freak!"

Tails yelped, more in surprise than fear, then leapt reflexively forward just as his intended victim jerked awake, startled.

"Huh? What the—"

That was as far as he got before Tails crashed into him at head-height and the two of them went rolling down the beach in a tangle of arms, legs, tails and quills that only ended when the stranger caught hold of a palm tree and sent Tails – who had been unprepared for such a sudden stop – sprawling into the sand, all four limbs splayed out.

A rapid patter of footsteps announced the arrival of Caud – who had been the one who startled the fox – and his gang. Tails flattened his ears nervously. This wasn't part of the game. The game was to pounce and race away, not knock the pouncee into a cove like this one, especially not with Caud's gang around. Fixing a beseeching look on the stranger, who was still lying spreadeagled on his back, Tails opened his mouth.

"Mister, I—"

"Shove off, squirt," Caud said, hauling Tails up and half pushing, half throwing him away. "Sonic? Sonic, are you okay?"

Tails' jaw dropped. He'd flattened _Sonic_? Sonic the hedgehog? Oh boy. Now he was really in for it; if Sonic had single-handedly destroyed Robotnik's bases, Tails wouldn't stand much of a chance. And no _way_ would he have been able to outrun him either! Sonic...how could he have forgotten? Hadn't he been building a Sonic action figure in his cave until the falls had frozen? How _could_ he not have recognised Mobius' national hero when he saw him?

"I'm fine," Sonic said, snapping onto his feet, then looked down at Tails. "What about you? Are you okay?"

For a minute, Tails was too stunned to answer – Sonic the hedgehog was talking to _him_! – then he swallowed once and nodded vigorously.

"You sure? That was quite a fall you took there." From the tone of Sonic's voice, it wasn't clear whether he was referring to the failed pounce or to Caud's treatment of the fox. Reaching down, he offered a hand and Tails hesitated. He'd never had _this_ before. Usually when the cool kids did something nice, it meant they were leading up to something bad.

"C'mon, it's okay," Sonic added. Tails continued to stare wordlessly. He wanted to take the hand, more than anything he wanted to, but too many squeals and cries of _Freak_ whenever he'd made physical contact with people before immobilised him.

"No?" Sonic withdrew his hand. "Okay, fine. As you like."

Tails pulled himself slightly further away and tried to get up, all four limbs digging for purchase in the soft white sand, then gave up and sat down hard, legs out in front of him and studied his thumbs intently.

"I'm sorry I whumped you like that, mister," he said miserably. "I didn't mean to do it, honest. I on'y wanted to surprise you."

"Well, you sure managed that," Sonic said, but there was a gleam of humour in his eyes as he looked at the fox.

"Oh, leave him alone," Caud said to Tails. "Don't you get it? This is _Sonic_ the _hedgehog_. He doesn't want to be bothered by little kids like you." He turned to Sonic, who was looking distinctly unimpressed at Caud's treatment of Tails. "Sonic, I think you're great, really _amazing_! Sorry about the freak over there attacking you; we're not all like him."

"Wasn't '_ttacking_," Tails mumbled. "Was on'y _pouncing_."

"Shut up!" Caud hissed fiercely, then looked at Sonic. "Like I said, we're not all like him here."

Sonic's expression was distinctly cool as he returned the civet's gaze.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said.

Caud faltered briefly – this wasn't how it was supposed to go – then rallied. "Can me and my gang have your autograph, Sonic?"

Without looking, Sonic reached out and caught the arm of a jackal who had been attempting to kick sand in Tails' face and hauled him back, shoving him at Caud and then smiling acidly.

"No," he said pleasantly. "Under the circumstances...no, I think not."

"Huh?" Caud was so taken aback by Sonic's refusal that he fell back a couple of paces. "Why not?"

"I don't give anything to bullies. You really want my autograph, grow up and stop picking on this little kid."

Tails started to protest that he _wasn't_ a little kid, then stopped. If Sonic wanted to fight his battles, well, he wasn't gonna complain!

"Little kid?" Caud echoed. "Oh, _him_?" indicating Tails. "Don't worry about him; a freak like him ain't got no feelings. He's just a retard, lives out on his own like some kind of wild animal."

"Only dumber." That came from the jackal along with a snicker and Sonic glanced at him.

"If you're trying to get me to join in your games, you're wasting your time," he stated. "Take a hike. All of you."

Caud stared at Sonic in honest perplexity, then looked away, resentment burning dully in his eyes.

"C'mon," he muttered. You didn't argue with Sonic. Not when the hedgehog had obliterated every single one of Robotnik's machines and destroyed his base single-handedly.

One by one, the gang trooped after him and Tails watched them go. Wow. He'd never seen _anyone_ just order Caud's gang off like that, at least, not anyone that the civet had ever obeyed.

"I'm _not_ a wild animal!" he yelled after them. None of them turned, except the jackal, who smirked and made a hand gesture at Tails that the fox didn't understand. He got the meaning well enough though and looked away dejectedly. Why'd they have to pick on him in front of _Sonic_ of all people?

A hand dropped onto his shoulder and Tails stiffened, wary. The bullying had never escalated beyond verbal and emotional – although that was more than enough as far as Tails was concerned – but that didn't mean this new guy was going to be so nice. After all, Sonic was _cool_, and Tails knew from experience that cool guys were the worst bullies of the lot.

"Teasing hurts, huh?" Sonic said quietly.

Tails glanced up at him. "Mister, you don't wanna hang 'round with me. They don't wanna be friends with anyone who hangs 'round with me 'cause I'm..." He screwed up his face, trying to remember the exact word and pronounce it properly. "I'm con...conflagrous."

One corner of Sonic's mouth twitched. "Contagious?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah, that's it. Dunno what it means but it's gotta be something bad 'cause nobody wants to hang 'round with me."

Sonic's expression never changed, but there was a new light in his eyes, one that was sympathetic rather than mocking.

"Well, _I'm_ hanging around with you, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but...the other guys aren't gonna wanna be friends with you if you do."

"Oh, I see." Sonic raised an eye ridge. "I guess it never crossed your mind that I might not wanna be friends with _them_?"

Judging by the speed with which Tails' jaw hit the ground, it hadn't occurred to the fox at all.

"You're...but you're _cool_. Cool guys hang around with other cool guys."

"Cool guys hang around with whoever they like," Sonic corrected him, grinning slightly. "And from what I've seen, I don't much like the look of those jerks who were here." He paused. "Why'd you jump on me in the first place, anyway?"

Tails squirmed. "Ah...heh heh...no reason, honest."

"Really. You just decided it'd be a good idea to flatten me, did you?"

"I didn't wanna _hurt_ you, mister—"

"Sonic."

"—Sonic, but I...I jus' wanted to surprise you."

"Why me?"

Tails curled up into a tight ball. "You're mad at me, right?"

"No, I'm not mad at you. I'm just curious, that's all; it's not every day I get pounced on by a fox. Why'd you pick me?"

"'Cause..." Tails curled up even tighter, ears now flat against his skull, "'cause I...I've never done a pounce attack on you before an' so I thought it'd be easier to get you to chase me. I thought maybe I could outrun you too."

Sonic's jaw dropped. "You thought _what?_ Oh man." He laughed, not unpleasantly. "Kiddo, there's nobody on this entire planet who can outrun me."

"I know. I didn't know who you were else I'd never have pounce attacked you, honest."

"That's what you call it?"

Tails nodded. "Uh huh. It's the on'y way I get anyone to play with me; jump on 'em and see if I can make 'em mad enough to chase me."

Sonic shook his head, grinning. "You must have some serious thrill issues, kid. What'd you do if one of them caught you?"

"Uh." Tails considered. "Well, I always been lucky so far, but I guess I'd be in trouble. C'n I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Are you _really_ Sonic or jus' some guy in a costume?"

Sonic folded his arms. "Just some guy in a costume? You think I'm just some guy in a costume? Can you think of any reason why anyone would want to dress up like me?"

Tails blinked. "Well, sure; 'cause you're Sonic the hedgehog." He paused as this sank in for the first time, then his eyes lit up. "Yeah! You're Sonic the hedgehog an' you're here in Emerald Hill Zone...wow! I can't believe it, I've heard all about you! You an' Robotnik!"

A slight cloud seemed to cover Sonic's face at that.

"You have?" He sounded edgy, almost nervous, although he was striving to keep his voice light and pleasant. "What exactly have you heard?"

"Jus' how you managed to kick his butt all by yourself! Wow, that must've been real cool, huh Sonic?"

"Cool?" Sonic echoed. "Being outnumbered by hundreds to one, knowing that the only thing standing between you and death is your own agility and never knowing how someone's going to try to kill you this time, whether it's going to happen in an hour or a day or in the next ten seconds?" He shook his head. "I don't call that cool, kid; I call it mind-numbingly terrifying."

Tails didn't answer this, largely because he didn't fully understand it. Being a hero _was_ cool, wasn't it? And stopping bad guys and saving the world...that was every kid's dream. Sonic didn't know how lucky he had it!

"Then again, you look like you've been in something of a battle yourself," Sonic added, then, when the fox looked bemused, added, "You got scratches all over you, and – no offence – but your fur's a little patchy."

"Huh? Oh, that. That's nothing, honest. Jus' where I got knocked in that pricklebush, 'sall."

"You were knocked into a pricklebush?" Sonic winced. The inch-long thorns were no joke, especially if they sank into your eyes. "Who by? Those jerks who were just here?"

Tails shook his head. "Uh uh. I dunno what happened 'cause I didn't see it but I was walking home through the forest down there—" he pointed carefully— "and something real fast zoomed by an' next thing I know I'm in a pricklebush."

Sonic froze, looking embarrassed. "Uh...was this some time last night? Earlyish, about half an hour or so before first moonrise?"

Tails nodded. "Uh huh. I'd jus'—" He broke off. He didn't want Sonic to know he'd been wishing on a star; the other kids had taunted him mercilessly about it. "I was jus' going home when something shot past an' whumped me into a pricklebush."

The hedgehog squirmed. "Yeah. Um...I, uh, I think that was me."

"It was?" Tails stared open mouthed at him. "Well...I guess it's okay, you didn't know I was there, right?"

"You're damn right I didn't...although I gotta wonder if you'd be so forgiving if I wasn't who I am."

"You're a hero, Sonic. You don't whump people on purpose, not 'less they deserve it. And you whump robots and ol' Robotnik, right?"

"Yeah." Something had happened; Sonic's face seemed to have stiffened and his voice was strained. "Yeah, I whump robots and Robotnik, as you put it."

"That's gotta be cool." Despite what Sonic had told him, Tails refused to believe that saving the world was anything other than a huge thrill ride. "An' everything that happened after you beat him as well, huh Sonic?"

Sonic shot him a look that, while not exactly cold, wasn't as friendly as normal.

"If I told you exactly what happened after I beat Robotnik, kid, you'd never believe me."

"You don't gotta _tell_ me, Sonic, everyone knows what happened. You became a national hero and now everyone loves you. Well, everyone 'cept ol' Robotnik, but he shoulda thought of that before he decided to go all mean an' take over the world and junk."

"Yeah," Sonic said in desert tones. "Where does he get off?"

Tails fell back a pace, confused. This wasn't how Sonic was supposed to be.

"Sonic? Did I do something bad?"

It was with a supreme effort that Sonic managed to remind himself that this strange little two-tailed fox cub – whoever the hell he was – was too young to fully appreciate the sheer anguish the hedgehog had gone through in that terrible fight. He was probably too young to appreciate it even if he'd known the full story behind Robotnik, which Sonic was determined nobody ever would.

"No," he said aloud, and forced a smile that he hoped looked a hell of a lot more natural and relaxed than he felt. "You didn't do anything bad. I just...I don't wanna talk about it, okay?"

Tails frowned, puzzled, but nodded obediently. The last thing he wanted was to make Sonic mad; if the star _had_ sent the hedgehog to be friends with him, he wasn't gonna throw the wish back in its face!

But...he'd still like to get Sonic's story from Sonic himself. Maybe if he was real careful or made Sonic happy, maybe then...

A small smile appeared on Tails' face. Yeah, and maybe then Sonic would let him stick around. That's what friends did, right? Stuck together?

Sonic shifted his weight. The kid had done nothing but stare at him with those huge blue eyes..._and you'd have to be blind not to see the adulation in them_, Sonic thought irritably and heaved a mental sigh. _Jeez, would it be too much to ask for someone not to idolise me?_

Abruptly, he turned and sped away. He wanted to work on the Tornado, work on it night and day until it was ready to fly. The sooner he could get out of this damn Zone, the better.

**Okay, so that's another chapter done :) If you read, please review!**


	3. The Price of Greed

**Toxic: (_Sonic: I have a lot on my mind._) What he said :P He'll be back, never fear ;)**

**Kj: Thanks ;) (_Sonic: Alright, maybe he will find out the secret, but not until that time in Casino Night Zone when Knuckles blurts it out!_) **

**XTailsX: Thanks :D**

**Samantha27: Heh, thanks :D And no worries, I will continue; I'm having too much fun trying to write Tails as a four year old to stop now :P**

**Kirby-Chan263: (happy smile) Thanks; glad you approve ;)**

**FriedBrickWall: Have no fear, Tails shall see the Tornado very very soon! As for getting beat up...well, you'll have to wait and see on that score (weg)**

**Sonic-Addict: Heh. I'm sure they will ;)**

**Lewisty: No problem; it'll continue right until the end :P**

**Shaddress: (smiles) Thanks. And yes, I will keep updating and writing until it is finished :D**

Tails was not a happy fox cub.

He'd been ecstatic a couple of hours before, when he'd realised that the guy the star had sent to be his friend was none other than Sonic the hedgehog, and positively delirious with joy and relief when he'd actually been able to talk to his hero (albeit after having sent him flying) and Sonic had talked back without being mean to him before zooming off, probably to do some more hero stuff. That had been where it all went wrong. Dazed and half drunk with happiness, Tails had wandered in and around the various buildings of Emerald Hill Zone before sitting down in a restaurant and ordering a steak sandwich and soda. Eating it had been fun too. The problems had come right about now, when he suddenly came back to reality in time to realise that he had no money, and they'd only been compounded by the bear who was currently standing between him and the exit.

"If you don't have the money, you shouldn't have ordered it."

Tails racked his brains for something to say and his mind fastened on—

"Sonic's gonna pay," he said aloud. "I met him on the beach an' told him I was hungry an' he offered to buy me lunch."

"I don't care what Sonic said. You been told enough times not to come in here unless you got the cash."

"Yeah, but if Sonic's paying, mister—"

"I don't see any Sonic here." The bear gripped Tails' arm, not painfully but tightly enough to ensure the fox couldn't pull away without dislocating his own shoulder. "I think maybe you oughta come with me, see if a week or two in the local jail doesn't sort you out."

Tails yelped in alarm; the 'jail' was nothing more than several small rooms with no windows and barred doors. He'd seen it once, and never wanted to set foot there again.

"No! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to; I jus' didn't...please don't take me to that place, I'll do anything but _please_—"

"What's going on?" someone said from behind.

The bear released Tails' arm as though he'd been burnt. "Sonic! Glad you showed up. This little brat came in and ate a meal, then calmly told me he ain't got the cash for it and that you'd offered to buy him lunch!"

Sonic looked at Tails, whose ears were flat against his skull and namesakes ducked firmly between his legs, then back at the bear.

"He's right. I did."

"You...what?" Now the bear was looking shocked, as though Sonic had confessed to running a brothel. "Sonic, was that wise? Under the circumstances, I mean...guy with your reputation can't be too careful, you don't wanna soil it."

"My _reputation_ is not your concern." Although Sonic spoke the words calmly, almost politely, there was a deadly undertone which stated that the bear had better not push this any further. "What I want to know is why you're discriminating against a kid like this one when that guy over there looks like he's about to walk out without paying."

"Huh?" The bear spun away from Tails, caught hold of the guilty party and dragged him back to the cash register. Tails didn't catch what was said – it was said in very hushed voices – but he knew it meant _big_ trouble. Maybe he could slip away in the confusion—

"Leaving so soon?"

Ah great. He'd forgotten Sonic. Tails opened his mouth, but the bear returned before he had a chance to answer.

"Thanks. That's the second time he's tried to do that. Sorry about the mix up, no hard feelings, right?"

"None at all," Sonic said. "I said to the kid I might be a little late and he was to go ahead and start without me."

"He's been here for half an hour," the bear pointed out flatly.

"I got delayed."

"Ah." There was a gleam in the bear's eyes that said he understood. "Fine. But that still leaves the bill."

Sonic sighed. "Yeah, I was afraid it might. How much?"

"Seventeen and a half Mobiums."

"_How_ much?" Sonic said again, in a completely different tone of voice.

"Your little friend ordered the largest steak sandwich we serve. Nine Mobiums, plus two for the fries he ordered. Then he ordered two sodas at one and a half Mobiums each. Fourteen Mobiums. And then to finish it off he had a bowl of brownies, the biggest we offer at three and a half Mobiums. Seventeen and a half in total. You don't believe me, I'll get you the receipt."

"No, that's okay." Sonic sighed again. "Alright, fine. Here." He handed over a twenty Mobium note and took the two and a half change, nodding his thanks as the bear headed off to serve some other customers.

After a couple of minutes had gone by in silence, Tails peeked up to see if the hedgehog had left.

No such luck. Sonic was still standing there, arms folded, foot tapping but with a slight twinkle in those green eyes.

"So I offered to buy you lunch, huh?"

Tails cringed. Why did he always wind up this embarrassed whenever he met Sonic? He wanted the hedgehog to think of him as cool, not some idiot freak.

"'M sorry. 'S jus'...there's no more fruit on the trees an' winter's comin' an' I on'y got something squishy from a trashcan for breakfast an' I was so hungry an' I thought...never mind. I'll make it up to you, mister, honest I will."

"Tell me your name and we'll call it quits."

"Mi—" Tails broke off abruptly. "Tails," he said instead.

"Pleasure to meet you."

Tails squirmed, pleased. "Aw...mister, you're jus' saying that."

"No I'm not. And don't call me mister."

Tails puzzled over this for a minute, then shrugged. "Okay." It seemed the safest bet.

"So...Tails. You still hungry?"

Tails' eyes lit up enthusiastically. "Boy, am I ever!" He hesitated, abruptly deflating. He'd been caught like this before; the other kids would ask him that same question, then follow it up with something like, _oh, too bad, we just finished lunch_. "Uh. Why? Are you gonna give me some food?"

"Why would I have asked if I wasn't planning to feed you?" Sonic said rhetorically, then shook his head, grinning. "And – though I'm perfectly harmless – didn't your folks ever tell you not to accept food from strangers?"

"Yeah, mister—"

"Sonic."

Tails thought of calling the hedgehog – of calling Mobius' national _hero_! – by name and balked.

Then he thought of that hedgehog being upset or even angry with him and made his choice.

"Yeah, I meant Sonic, but you're not a stranger. You're Sonic the hedgehog. 'Sides, I don't have any folks."

Sonic glanced at him. "You don't? So who looks after you?"

Tails' chest inflated. "I look after myself. I'm tough, like you! I go from place to place, wherever the wind takes me! I sleep under the stars an'...an' howl at the moon. Yeah. An' I catch my own food an' cook it myself an' go where I want. Yeah."

To his credit, Sonic didn't actually laugh at Tails, but it was obvious from the suppressed quivering of his shoulders that it was taking one hell of an effort.

"Howl at the moon?"

"Yeah. Yeah, an'...an' people hear me do it an' think, oh boy, that's Tails again, he's keeping watch, we feel much safer now."

"Oh, they do, huh?" Sonic grinned broadly. Tails slumped.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"No, I believe that whenever they hear you howl they think _oh boy, that's Tails again_. I'm just not too sure about the rest of it."

"They do! Honest!"

"Alright." Sonic held up his hands in surrender, still grinning. "They do. C'mon, let's get that lunch, huh?" He paused. "Unless you're full?"

"No _way_!" Tails perked up, ears pricked. "Are we gonna eat right now, Sonic? Right now?"

"Right now," Sonic informed him, shaking his head wryly as Tails raced over to reclaim his table and pick up his knife and fork, looking at the hedgehog expectantly.

Sonic rolled his eyes, then joined him. He wasn't sure how much foxes ate and so ordered the same for Tails as he was having for himself, telling the fox that he could always leave what he didn't want.

By the time Sonic had taken three bites out of his chilli dog, Tails had wolfed down his own along with the side order of fries, gulped down the soda and was eyeing Sonic's fries hopefully, a ring of chilli sauce around his mouth. Sonic shook his head wryly.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you to eat slowly?"

Tails squirmed. "But I'm hungry!"

"After all that? Where d'you put it all, kid?" Sonic grinned. "And I thought I had a healthy appetite."

"I jus' never been 'llowed to eat here before. Sonic, are you gonna finish that soda?"

"Probably not if you have anything to say about it," Sonic retorted, then pushed the cup over. "Go ahead, if you're that thirsty."

"Thanks!" Tails grabbed the cup, pulled off the straw and chugged the contents, then pointed to Sonic's fries. "You're not gonna eat all those yourself, right? Right?"

The hedgehog rolled his eyes. "Help yourself." He pushed them over. "I gotta go get some parts anyway. Metropolis Zone's the nearest supplier, if you can believe that."

Tails froze. Sonic was leaving?

"You don't wanna go to Metropolis Zone," he said.

"Oh, don't I?" There was a slight glimmer of amusement in Sonic's eyes. "So where do I want to go then?"

"You wanna stay right here! Metropolis Zone's not a nice place to go, Sonic. It's all polluted an' junk, an' you have to go through exploding volcanoes an' polluted oceans an' underwater mazes an' gamblers an' chemicals an' all sorts...you can stay right here."

Sonic shook his head. "Tails, I have to get some stuff to fix up my plane, and the nearest shop for that stuff is in Metropolis Zone. I'm packing and heading out that way tomorrow."

"You got a _plane_?" Tails' eyes were huge. "Where is it? Can I see it?"

"It's in a cove not far from here, and if you want to see it, just follow the scorch marks. I crashed a couple days ago and need to repair it." Sonic pushed the paper bag over to Tails. "Help yourself to the fries if you want them. I gotta get going." Pulling out a fifteen Mobium note, he handed it to the cub. "This'll cover the meal. You can keep the change for yourself, get some decent food for once."

Tails took it, handling it as though it were made of gold. "Wow! Thanks!"

"Don't mention it, kiddo. And don't try something like this again, okay? Because I'm not gonna be around to bail you out a second time." Turning, Sonic raced off in a flash of blue.

Finishing his meal, Tails paid, collected the three Mobiums change and trooped out, heading for the beach. His cup of happiness had been filled to the brim by the meal with Sonic, and finding a discarded tub of ice cream that Ursam's mother had chucked out caused it to overflow. Boy, he _never_ got ice cream...pella flavoured too!

Prising the lid off, Tails experienced a pang of disappointment; the contents were melted, almost liquid. Well...nothing a little snow wouldn't cure!

Clutching it tightly in case someone decided to try and grab it, all thoughts of the beach now forgotten, Tails raced off to his cave; that was high enough in the mountains to have snow all year round. Looking around and picking a likely snowdrift, he buried the ice cream in it and marked the spot with a large X made from several fallen pine needles.

It took the rest of the day for the ice cream to refreeze (a process that was drastically slowed by Tails' digging it up every five or ten minutes to see if it was done yet) and by the time it was dark Tails was ravenous again and so he polished the whole tub off, licking around the inside to get the last of it, and then, feeling very full – not to mention slightly sick – curled up under a pine tree and went to sleep.

A couple of miles away, Sonic was drunk.

It had come about very gradually; he'd gone into a pub for an evening meal and people had insisted on buying him drinks. Never having tasted anything stronger than a non-diet soda, the alcohol had gone straight to his head. The last thing he had a clear recollection of was protesting that he _wasn't_ drunk, he _never_ got drunk during the day, he was _impervious _to drunkenness (and it had taken him four attempts to pronounce the word impervious correctly) and if someone would just refill his glass he'd be more than happy to prove it. Luckily the wombat behind the bar seemed to have more sense than Sonic; he'd sent the hedgehog on his way, which was why Sonic was now weaving unsteadily through the trees, not knowing where he was going and singing a bawdy song that he'd learned in the Jungle Zone at the top of his lungs.

"Oh-h-h, I've been all 'round the worl' an' I never kisseda girl, but the sailor's daughder smile' while makin' jam." He bumped into a tree, apologised to it and then started again. "So we raced for neudral groun' an' tha' was wherr I foun' tha' she's no mo' a priddy girl than I am."

He'd been...what? Drunk, uh huh, pissed, sure, or as his old friend Mighty would have put it, had a pie orbiting in his eyes. He frowned. No, couldn't be right, could it? Nope. No sirree, not what Mighty woulda said. Mighta said a whole lot more though, Mighty might...Sonic giggled at the pun. Yep, sure Mighty mighta said a load more since he was the on'y one to know 'bout...'bout...

Sonic's thoughts tailed off, not through drunkenness but through a steadily increasing sense of sobriety which all the alcohol on Westside Island wouldn't be enough to disperse.

What had happened? Had he said anything he shouldn't? Were people even now gossiping about him? _That's Sonic, the guy who stopped Robotnik. 'Course, he was also the guy who unleashed Robotnik on Mobius in the first place..._

Sonic shuddered at the thought. He opened his mouth to protest to the phantom gossips that this wasn't true, nuh uh, not one word, but instead he suddenly doubled over and vomited for what seemed like a very long time.

Then he passed out.

When he woke up, it took a long time for him to figure out what had happened...something which was aided greatly by the unpleasant realisation that the side of his face appeared to be gummed to the floor with his own vomit. His head felt like someone was hammering rusty nails into it, and his mouth was like sandpaper.

Getting woozily to his feet, he started to walk back towards where he'd left the Tornado...any fast movement made him sway rather alarmingly. Once there, he leapt up into the cockpit, wincing as the motion jarred his tender head, and pulled out a blanket. Tugging it over his head, he curled up and didn't fall asleep so much as pass out.

* * *

Tails lay on his side, eyes glazed, breathing rapidly. Pain like he'd never experienced was stabbing through his gut, accompanied by vomiting. It had started the morning after he'd eaten the ice cream and he wondered dully if Ursam's mother had poisoned it before throwing it out, knowing that Tails was likely to eat it. Probably. 

He yelped as a fresh pain shot through him. Yeah. Musta been poison. Ursam's mother had made it clear she thought Tails as much a freak as the kids did. Musta been her way of getting rid of him. Yep. Gotta be.

Groaning, Tails started to crawl away. He had one thought left, only one thought that kept reverberating over and over in his painful head; get to Sonic. Sonic might not be able to stop the pain...but no, Tails dismissed that thought irritably. You didn't get to be a hero if you couldn't fix everything and solve everyone's problems.

He didn't know how long he crawled for, dragging himself one painful inch at a time over the ground on his belly. If anyone else was there or passed by, he didn't register them. In his pain-crazed state, he didn't even know where he was, only that he had to get to Sonic.

Sonic himself had had a very quiet day, mostly through his own design; hedgehogs with hangovers tended to move extremely gingerly and complain about the noise that damn ant is making walking around on that leaf. He'd tried to work on the Tornado some more, but given it up as a bad job after about ten minutes and settled for sunbathing and drinking from a rock pool instead before having an early night and swearing to himself never to even _touch_ alcohol again.

He'd been asleep for a good couple of hours when the sound of something advancing deliberately towards him caused him to jerk awake.

"Who's there?" There was a suspicious note in his voice; people who had just made the top of Robotnik's hit list tended to be suspicious of anyone creeping around.

On the ground, Tails opened his mouth to answer, but his stomach churned and all that came out was a splatter of thin vomit. Up above him, he saw Sonic lie back down again with a muttered, "Damn drunks."

"Sonic..." How he expected Sonic to hear his voice when he himself barely could, Tails had no idea, but he had to try, had to make Sonic realise it was him. Sonic was nice. Sonic was kind. Sonic would help him. Sonic would—Tails vomited again and collapsed with a loud groan.

Sonic's head appeared over the edge of the cockpit. "Look, whoever you are, d'you think you could go and be pissed somewhere else? I don't—" He broke off abruptly, staring. "Tails? That you down there?"

Tails whimpered softly – he didn't have the energy to groan anymore – and rolled over.

"It is, isn't it? Tails, are you okay?"

Tails looked up at him, clutching his stomach. "Yeah...fine..." he managed to get out, with no thought of sarcasm.

Sonic frowned. "Don't lie to me, kid." He leapt out the cockpit and was at Tails' side in an instant. "How long have you been feeling this way?"

"Since this morning. Jus' after sunrise." Tails felt a familiar sensation well up inside him and tried to hold it back, but couldn't; he vomited helplessly. Sonic stared at him.

"You've been suffering stomach cramps and vomiting for _fourteen damn hours_ and you never said anything?"

"I didn't wanna bother you."

"So you decided to come bother me at night by waking me up, that it?" When Tails cringed, ducking his head, Sonic grinned. "C'mon, I'm kidding." The grin disappeared as he added, "What've you been eating recently?"

"Ice cream. Melted. Coulda poisoned it."

"_Poisoned_?" Sonic stared at him. "Tails, I know you think you're not the most popular guy on this island and maybe you're right, but do you really think that anyone here hates you enough to want you _dead_?"

"P'raps. Dunno." Another cramp, this one worse than the others, shot through Tails' stomach and he yelped and was sick again, this time all over Sonic's sneakers. Humiliated beyond measure, crimson-faced and dreading Sonic's reaction, he turned his head away. "Sorry," Sonic heard him mumble. "Real sorry."

"It's okay." Kneeling down to his level, Sonic reached out to rub Tails' shoulders gently. "C'mon, it's cold and you shouldn't be out here by yourself, not at this time of night and not like this either. Tell me where you live and I'll take you home."

Tails shook his head. "Don't live anywhere, 'cept for there's a nice cave in the mountains an' I like to sleep in summer. Too cold now. Winter now, so cave falls freezed. Wood now. All wood. Summer water'll come 'gain."

Not surprisingly, Sonic was completely and utterly baffled by this incoherent statement; he rearranged the words in his head several times, but he still didn't understand.

"Well...where are your folks?" he said, at a loss for what else to say.

"Gone."

"Gone? Gone where?" Understanding dawned. "Oh...you mean _gone_ gone?" he said quietly.

A small nod.

"Okay, so who looks after you?" Sonic tried.

"I do." Tails was vaguely aware that for some reason his answers weren't helping the hedgehog, but he didn't know what Sonic wanted to hear.

"You're homeless?"

"Nah, I got a home. Emerald Hill Zone."

Sonic changed down a mental gear. "What I mean is, you, uh, you don't have a set place in that Zone to live?"

"I got the cave. Nobody ever comes there but me, on'y like I said, it's all freezed up."

Another mental gear shift.

"So where do you live when it's not frozen?" Sonic still wasn't too sure what Tails meant by a frozen cave, but he let that one slide.

"Anywhere. Like the beach, 'cept for all the people who come an' tell me to move on when I'm asleep. An' those people at night who like to roll 'round in the sand clutching each other an' moaning. I dunno why they seem to like it so much but it's kinda annoying after awhile."

"I can imagine." Sonic wondered if anyone besides himself would ever realise the effort it took to keep his voice that casual.

"So I usually jus' sleep in th' cave. Winter forest. An' I got a secret place, jus' me an' no one else. No one else knows it's there. It gets kinda tickly with all the bugs comin' and goin', an' I used to get scared when the forest spiders crawled on me. But not now, mister," Tails added hastily, fearful of Sonic's contempt. "Honest not now."

Sonic, who hadn't picked much more out of this brilliant dialogue than the kid was orphaned, homeless and for some reason had picked him to help, hesitated, then nodded.

"Okay kid. Okay. You stay in the Tornado tonight; I'll go get you some—" Sonic hastily bit down on the word 'medicine'— "stuff," he said instead, then grinned. "And try to keep the groaning down in case you disturb some of those people rolling around in the sand," he couldn't resist adding.

"You c'd always...always take me to th' woods. They're far 'nuff. No one'd hear me there."

Sonic stared at him incredulously, no longer grinning. "What, you think I meant that?"

"Uh huh."

"Well...I didn't, okay?" Sonic said. It seemed somewhat lame, but he had no idea what else to say. "I'm sure I saw a pharmacy somewhere. I'll go get you some stuff."

"Can't."

"Why not?"

Tails opened his mouth, vomited, then managed to control himself long enough to say, "You're...they're gonna see your sneakers an' how I was sick on them an' they're gonna laugh at you."

Sonic shook his head. "When are you gonna learn that I don't care about that stuff? C'mon." He leapt for the Tornado, landing neatly in the cockpit, grabbing the blanket there and jumping back down in one smooth move. Reaching down, he wrapped the blanket around Tails' small and skinny frame and said, "Stay here, okay? I'll be back in a minute."

In fact it was more like five by the time he'd even found a pharmacy, and the guy he found inside drove all thoughts of Tails from his mind; for a long while he just stood and stared.

"Mighty?"

The armadillo turned to face him. "Sonic." It was almost impossible to tell if it was a greeting, a statement or a condemnation.

"I..." Sonic struggled for words and finally settled for, "I...didn't know you were here."

"The feeling's mutual."

Sonic continued staring. He and Mighty had once been the closest of friends, right up until Robotnik had first showed up. When Sonic had spoken to the armadillo afterwards, had confessed the part he'd played in all that, Mighty had seemed like he wanted nothing more to do with Sonic.

The hedgehog opened his mouth to – what? Apologise? Defend himself? – and heard himself say, "You don't know anything about foxes, do you?"

* * *

The sound of voices pulled Tails halfway out of a deep sleep just in time to hear Sonic take a long, deep breath. 

"Look, Mighty, you and me haven't seen each other since the Robotnik incident, and you're the only one who knows—"

The one called Mighty interrupted. "Afraid I'm gonna start talkin'? Nice thing to do to a friend, Sonic!"

Tails almost howled in frustration. _Of course_ someone as cool as Sonic would already have a friend; how could he have been so dumb? Sonic probably only let him tag along because he was too nice to tell him to get lost; why should he put up with a little kid like Tails? He probably only wanted friends and company his own age, and to a four-year-old Tails, twelve years old might as well have been twelve hundred.

He drifted in and out of a daze at that point, only coming out of it in time to hear Mighty say, "—told someone."

"Oh yeah?" Tails could dimly hear the apprehension in Sonic's voice. "Who'd you meet after you ran off that day?"

"I got into the Twister and just flew, farther than I've ever done before. I found an island, Sonic, an island just floating in the sky. I landed, raced into the forest and crashed into this guy about my age."

"You told _him_?"

"He didn't want to talk. First of all I had to knock him out before he'd speak to me, and then it was only to demand a rematch. I ended up beating him three more times before he'd finally concede I was the stronger." Mighty paused. "There was almost nothing in it, though," he added. "That guy, whoever he was, was _tough_. He demanded to know what I was doing on his island and...well, I blurted it out."

"Great."

"Trust me, Sonic, I doubt this guy's ever gonna leave his island, and the people dumb enough to visit it aren't likely to survive the experience. This person's a recluse; there aren't even any others of his race up there for him to tell. You and he are never going to meet. And right now, you got other things to worry about. What's this kid been eating?"

Sonic snorted. "What _hasn't_ he? Most recently he says he finished up a tub of ice cream he found in a trashcan."

Mighty stared. "How much?"

"No idea. He said there was only a little bit gone when he came to eat it."

"I don't suppose he ever thought that this could be why it was chucked out, because there was something wrong with it?"

Sonic looked at Tails, then back at Mighty. "No. He's four years old, Might. Hardly a good age to begin thinking about such things. On the ice cream front...well, if it was the standard size, you're looking at about a pint and a half."

Mighty snorted. "Yeah? Then to be honest, after eating about a pint and a half's worth of ice cream, I'd have been amazed if he _wasn't_ sick. Talk about greedy."

Sonic shook his head. "He's not greedy, Mighty. He's starving, and like most little kids he's got no idea of moderation. I'd lay money he eats everything he can because he has no idea where his next meal's coming from."

"You think so?" Mighty glanced down at the tuft of fur and two large ears, which was all that could be seen of Tails above the blanket. "What'd you say he was? Fox?"

"Damned if I know, to tell you the truth. He looks like a fox except for one thing; he has two tails. And you still haven't told me what to do when he wakes up."

"Give him water. Plenty of it."

Sonic reached out to Tails, almost as though about to stroke the kid's fur, then drew his hand back sharply. "I can't. He'll just puke it right back up."

"Some of it will get through. You're gonna have to trust me on that, but it will. Vomiting and diarrhea only lasts a few days, but he's gonna be drained. Where does he live?"

Sonic bit his lip. "That's part of the problem; I'm not sure he does. I couldn't get much out of him – well, poor kid was chucking up at the time, so I'm not surprised – but I think he squats in a cave of some kind or sleeps rough in the forest. He mentioned a secret place, but I dunno what he meant by that." He glanced up at Mighty. "Look, you must know this place. Isn't there somewhere I can take him, some kind of hospital?"

_No hospitals_, Tails tried to say but couldn't; his tongue seemed unaccountably too big for his mouth.

The armadillo was already shaking his head before Sonic had finished saying the word 'take'.

"No. Oh, there are plenty, but the rule is that all minors must be admitted by a parent or guardian. You're neither, and so they won't take him."

Sonic stared. "The kid's puking and crapping all over the place and they won't help him just because he's got no family?"

"Exactly. Although I imagine if you asked him, he'd say he had you. You were the one he came to, after all."

"Why _me_? Jeez, what do I know about treating salmonella?"

The armadillo's mouth quirked slightly. "Maybe he didn't come to you for treatment, Sonic. Maybe he just came to you for a bit of TLC."

"Yeah, but...he must have...surely there are..." Sonic stared. "There must be _someone_ who cares about this kid."

"Must there? Who says? Look, in this Zone, you look after number one. Tails could drop dead and all the others would probably do is gripe about having to dispose of the body, assuming he died close enough for that to be an issue. You're all he has."

"Might...I can't stay here. I'm like you. I need to keep moving. Robotnik could be..." Sonic swallowed and continued bravely. "He could be building more machines."

"Yes, and whose fault's that?" Mighty asked. There was no obvious anger or spite in the tone, but Sonic still winced. Mighty was the only person on Mobius – well, except perhaps this stranger on a flying island, and Sonic still wasn't convinced that the armadillo hadn't made that up – who knew that Sonic was not only responsible for Robotnik's existence, but that he couldn't bring himself to kill him after the fight in Sky Base, had allowed him to limp away, down but not out.

Before Sonic could say anything, Mighty shook his head. "I'm not blaming you, Sonic. At least, not much anymore."

Sonic swallowed. "Thanks. Yeah. But I need to keep moving, and even if I didn't, I still need to get the hell out of this Zone. It's poison. I can feel it. I need to get out."

"And what about what Tails needs? If you abandon him now, in his current state, he'll die. He refroze and ate almost an entire tub of ice cream. Logical from a kid's point of view, when you think about it, but who's to say that next time he won't do something similar with rice? Or chicken? And you won't be around to help him, so I can almost guarantee you that he will die before next winter. He'll die, and if you've gone, he'll die alone and in agony, and the residents of Emerald Hill Zone will gripe about disposing of his body, if they even bother with that at all; if Tails squats far enough away, they'll just leave him to rot and feed the maggots."

Sonic squeezed his eyes shut. "Jeez, Might."

"He needs you. He's four years old and if you want him to live long enough to see five, you better do some prioritising. What's more important, Sonic; your own sense of guilt and restlessness or this little kid's life? If you still want to turn your back on him and leave him, fine, nobody can stop you, but you better understand one thing before you do it; you'll be leaving him to die, from loneliness as much as anything else. What'd that poor little tyke ever do to you?"

Sonic sat down abruptly. "Might, what do _I_ know about little kids? I didn't even ask for this, any of it."

"You must have done something. Even something as trivial as just talking to him. He's got no family, no friends and then you came along and said a few kind words and bang! All his dreams come true at once."

"I'm no damn foster parent, Mighty!"

"You are for now," the armadillo said flatly. "Like it or not, Sonic, he's picked you to help him. Can you really turn him down?"

Sonic glanced up at the cockpit, where the little fox was now sleeping fitfully.

"There's gotta be someone who can take care of him."

"Probably, but until you find them, you'll have to do it."

"Why _me_?" Sonic all but wailed.

"Ask Tails, when he comes to."

Sonic shook his head glumly. "No point, Might. I know what he'll say."

"He'll say he doesn't know?"

"He'll say because I'm Sonic the hedgehog." Sonic groaned. "Man, nobody outside the Green Hill Zone had ever heard of me last year! Now I'm suddenly this bigshot hero?"

"Yeah. You didn't want that, you should have thought before you went after Robotnik." Mighty shook his head. "I'm bushed, Sonic. I'm gonna go turn in. When your friend wakes up, get some water down him even if you have to hold his nose and pour it through a funnel."

He turned and strode away. Sonic was half tempted to call him back or even to chase after him, but something held him in place and instead he looked over to where Tails was and sighed.

_What the hell am I gonna do with you?_

**Phew! Okay, that's that! Sorry it took longer than usual; I have my two young cousins staying with me which means there's a lot more playing _Sonic_ and a lot less writing him :P Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and if you read, please review :)**


	4. Recovery and Promises

**Kj: Thanks :) The adventure game...it'll probably start in the next chapter and get going in the one after that :P**

**Awdures: Thanks, glad you're enjoying it :D Mighty meeting Knuckles...hmm, maybe I'll try and write that :P **

**Pyrokinesis: Heh, yep, I play Sonic. I actually managed to beat Chemical Plant Zone 2 (twice; big thing for me!) Actually, Tails got stuck in Robotnik's machine and kept pummeling him until he exploded...all I did was sit there ;) I'm starting to think my cousins are my lucky charms; I've gotten further than ever before with them :P Maybe if we play Sonic 3 together I'll get to see a little more of Knux ;)**

**Poridet: Heh...usually I'd agree with you about the drinking, but in case you hadn't noticed, Emerald Hill Zone doesn't tend to pay much attention to such things ;) Thanks for the kind words though; it makes writing worthwhile :D Sequel...there is a sequel in the works but it's the story of Sonic 3 (and a prequel – Sonic 1) Sonic raising Tails...well, that's covered in most stories featuring both of them :P**

**Master hunter: (blushes) Wow, thanks :D Glad you're enjoying it!**

**TrueVulcanRaven: (grins) Thanks; I'll try :P**

**Taryn Wander'r: (happy smile) Thanks...and the next chapter is below as requested :P**

**FriedBrickWall: Hee hee :P That's the problem when you read future stories; it kinda takes the suspense out of ones like this (grins) And thanks, glad you're enjoying it :D**

**SaffraEchidna: Heh, no worries :P Mighty fan? Ooh boy, is it that obvious:P I did like him in the comics though...**

**Sonic-Addict: (blushes) Thanks :)**

**Shaddress: Mighty...well, the answer to that depends on who you ask :P For the sake of this fic, he's an armadillo and was Sonic's best friend growing up. As for the rest, hey, I never give away the story ahead of time ;) You'll have to keep reading to find out**

**Dr. Cat: Heh...when it comes to the language I go for realism more than anything ;) Anyway, thanks; glad you're enjoying it :D**

**Kirby-Chan263: Thanks :D**

**Lewisty: Thanks; glad you enjoyed it :P**

**Toboe16: (happy smile) Thanks. I liked Sonic's drunkenness as well; I had a lot of fun writing out the full version of that song :P**

Asher Tye: (blushes) Thanks :D I kind of started this as a not-quite random sideline, so I'm glad people are enjoying it so much :D

It took a good three days before Tails stopped throwing up everything Sonic gave him, and at least as many weeks before he was back to normal. Inwardly cursing Mighty – who had left Westside Island not long after seeing Sonic again – Sonic did the best he could for the fox, keeping him warm and (despite Tails' protests) practically forcing water down his throat. That got a little easier once the vomiting and diarrhea had run its course, but Tails was still inclined to avoid food wherever possible. The salmonella had taken a lot of weight off him, and you didn't have to be a genius to realise that the kid hadn't had much to spare to begin with. If Tails had been skinny when Sonic had met him, now he was positively emaciated.

For what seemed like the thousandth time that day, Sonic offered Tails some supper.

"Here."

The fox shook his head. "Uh uh."

Sonic withdrew the chicken sandwich and sighed. "Tails, you gotta eat something. In the past three weeks you've been living off water and lettuce with the odd pella fruit, and that's not enough. You're growing, kiddo, and your body needs food. You've thrown off the bug and now you need to start eating again."

Tails eyed the sandwich as though it were pure poison. "Nuh uh. It's okay. I'm not hungry," he said, and his stomach promptly made him a liar by rumbling loudly.

"It's not gonna make you sick again, if that's what you're scared of."

"I'm _not_ scared! I jus'..." Tails bit his lip. "I heard your buddy talking an' he mentioned chicken an' how it would do what the ice cream did. I don't wanna go through that again, Sonic, not never. Can't I have what you're having?"

"I'm having chicken sandwich, kiddo."

"I'll..." Tails hesitated. "I'll eat the bread," he bargained. "That won't hurt me, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Okay. You eat the bread and I'll eat the chicken, how about that?"

Tails took the bread with a hand that quivered slightly. "It won't make me sick, right Sonic? Promise it won't make me sick like the ice cream did?"

"I promise. Where'd you get that ice cream, anyway?"

"It was jus' sitting around."

"You _stole_ it?"

"Nuh uh! It's not stealing to take stuff out the trashcan! If people wanted it, they wouldn'ta chucked it away, right? I'm not a thief."

"You got it out the _trashcan_?" Sonic had hoped that part had been a bad dream.

"Uh huh. See, I knew Ursam's mum would be up for a midnight snack 'cause she can't sleep no more 'cause of having got insanity."

"Insomnia, Tails, although based on what I've seen so far I shouldn't wonder if it _was_ insanity."

"Yeah, an' when she's up she does housework an' that includes chucking stuff away. Sonic...it's _not_ stealing to take stuff that's been thrown away, is it? 'Specially when that stuff's been there for a whole morning. It's not stealing then, right Sonic? 'Cause if it is I'm not gonna get anything to eat this winter 'cause all the fruit finishes then an' the fishes are asleep an' so I _gotta_ eat from the trash an'...an' why're you looking at me with your mouth open like that?"

Sonic, who hadn't realised he was, closed it with a snap. "I just...you eat out the trash? No wonder you get food poisoning."

Tails looked puzzled. "Well, where else'm I s'posed to get food from?"

"I don't know...isn't there a soup kitchen anywhere in this Zone? Or couldn't you have gone to one of the other Zones?"

"Nah. They're all building sites an' factories. This an' Aquatic Ruin're the only nice Zones. An' Hill Top."

Sonic shook his head. "If this is what you call nice, Tails, I'd hate to see what you call nasty." He took a bite of chicken and chewed, relishing the taste. He had to admit, Emerald Hill Zone did great food; the chicken was nice and juicy, with just a hint of spice.

Tails sniffed the lightly toasted bread warily, then nibbled off a corner.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"How'd your plane crash?"

The hedgehog snorted. "Like I know. I'm not much good with machinery. All I know is the engine cut out and I had to make a crash landing. You must've seen me."

Tails shook his head. "Uh uh. All I saw that night was a yellow light racing across the sky. I thought it was a falling star an' so I wished on it like I did the other but I didn't think anything happened. Then I got whumped into a pricklebush." Tails looked up at Sonic with shining eyes. "Stars take their time to grant your wish but when they do they sure work fast, huh?"

Sonic blinked. "You wished to be run over by a blue hedgehog travelling at three hundred miles per hour?"

Tails shook his head, fixing Sonic with a solemn look. "No, I just wished to have someone who'd lemme play with them."

Sonic hesitated. "Tails...I can't stay here forever. You understand that, right?"

"Oh sure. I mean, I never wished to have someone who'd lemme play with 'em _forever_. I thought it'd be easier for the star if I wasn't too picky, you know? An' we played this morning an' even after you've gone to save the world again I can tell all the other kids that I can't be all that bad 'cause at least _someone_ wanted to be my friend, even if only for a morning. An' not jus' any someone, but the coolest someone on Mobius! That star really did a good job, huh?"

"Yeah, it did," Sonic said, smiling at the fox, a smile which hid the hedgehog's true feelings. Something about the sheer...what? Innocence, he supposed, although that wasn't quite the right word; something about the sheer innocence and childish faith about wishing on a star, and wishing for something that most kids took for granted every day of their lives...that disturbed Sonic deeply, although he couldn't say why.

A sudden sensation of warmth jerked his attention down to where Tails had scrambled over to snuggle trustingly against his ribs, winding both arms around his waist.

"I used to get real worried on cloudy nights," Tails said confidentially, "'cause I couldn't see it to wish. You know you gotta see 'em, else it doesn't work. I used to worry that it'd think I'd forgotten it, but I guess it understood after all, right?"

"Yeah, I guess it did. If it's powerful enough to grant wishes, it's gotta be able to understand little things like that." Sonic paused. "So where exactly do you live when you're not squatting with me?"

"I got a cave in the mountains." Tails' ears drooped. "But I gotta get to it through an underwater passage an' the water's all frozen, so now I'm staying in my secret place."

"Your secret place?" Sonic echoed, smiling slightly.

"Uh huh. It's real cool, Sonic. Nobody else knows where it is an' it's jus' me." Tails looked away. "I think my dad might've liked it though. He liked 'sploring."

"What happened to your family?" Sonic asked very quietly.

Tails frowned at the sky. "Dunno. Don't 'member; it happened a couple years ago. Don't hardly 'member them either. It mighta been diff'rent when they were alive, but I don't 'member if it was. They died an' I had to leave home for closure."

"What's closure got to do with you leaving home?"

Tails gave the hedgehog a withering look. "Not closure, _for_ closure. Some people come to the house an' said I had to leave 'cause of for closure."

Light dawned on Sonic. "Oh, _foreclosure_."

"That's what I said."

"They just kicked you out? Wasn't there anyone else who could take you in?"

"Nuh uh. The on'y kids' parents with spare places wouldn't have anything to do with me."

Sonic frowned. "Why not?"

"Well..." Tails' own frown deepened perplexedly and he scratched his head. "I think it was 'cause they'd all met me," he said, perfectly seriously. "Y'know, they didn't want a freak in their fam'ly."

_And the kids would take the cue from their parents_, Sonic thought grimly. Aloud he said, "You're not a freak, Tails."

"I am. There's on'y one kid on Mobius like me an' that makes me a freak."

"There's only one person on Mobius like _me_, but I'm not a freak."

Tails shot him a withering look. "Course you're not. Heroes aren't s'posed to be freaks. But if you'd grown up here an' been blue an' not saved the worl' you'da been a freak. Why are you blue?"

"It happened when I broke through the sound barrier." Sonic shrugged. "I dunno why exactly. Whatever it was fused my quills as well."

Tails got to his feet and padded around to inspect the quills in question, then touched one and withdrew his hand with a yelp.

"Yeah," Sonic said with a certain amount of resignation, "they're sharp. How else do you think I sliced through those bots?"

The fox returned to Sonic's front, sucking his injured finger, then sat down next to the hedgehog.

"Sonic? Tell me about what it was like. Tell me how you smashed Robotnik's bots, how you whumped 'em into pieces an' how you whumped ol' Robotnik?"

Sonic blanched. He'd been trying as hard as he could to forget all that; it was bad enough having the nightmares of those battles without reliving it during the day as well.

"There's not much to tell. I don't like talking about it."

"Well, _I_ don't like eating chicken sandwiches anymore," Tails pointed out in tones of utmost reason, "but I'm still doing it, aren't I?"

Sonic glanced at him, an appreciative glint in those eyes. "Tell you what. You eat the sandwich – _all_ the sandwich, not just the bread – and I'll tell you a little. Deal?"

Tails hesitated. "But that guy said the chicken would—"

"It'll only make you sick if you eat it when it's mouldy or if you get it out the trashcan. Okay?"

The fox looked at the chicken part of the sandwich Sonic was offering with suspicious eyes, then reluctantly took it, put it back into the bread and bit into it with an expression that suggested he was sawing through a limb.

"You'll tell me, right?" he said somewhat indistinctly; his first bite had filled his mouth to bursting point.

"Not if you don't finish that sandwich first," Sonic said flatly. "And by _finish_, I mean for you to actually _swallow_ between bites."

Tails, who had been about to take another bite, swallowed gamely, choked and regurgitated, then threw the sandwich away as though it had burned him and spat the mouthful onto the sand.

"You said it wouldn't make me sick!" he accused Sonic.

"The sandwich won't," Sonic said, wondering how the hell he was supposed to get over this one, "but if you stuff your face like that, of course you're not gonna be able to swallow it. Go on, eat smaller bites and you'll be okay."

Tails shook his head stubbornly. "Uh _uh_. 'Sides, it's all sandy now, look."

Sonic closed his eyes and counted to ten. It didn't seem to help.

"Tails..."

The fox flattened his ears. "I'm _sorry_. But it's not you who's gonna get sick."

"And it's not you either." When Tails continued to glower at him mutinously, Sonic sighed. "Fine. Have it your way for tonight. I'm too damn tired to argue with you, kid. All I can say is that I busted my ass for almost a month trying to stop you from dying of food poisoning, and your committing suicide through starvation doesn't seem like a good way to say thanks." Turning, he leapt for the Tornado's cockpit, settling himself in the seat and pulling a blanket over himself. "I'll see you in the morning, Tails."

Left alone on the beach, Tails bit his lip furiously in an effort to staunch the tears. Tears were for babies. _Sonic_ never cried, did he?

_You're not likely to find out, since you made him mad at you_, a nasty little voice inside him whispered. The tears came then and Tails abruptly whirled and bolted for the safety of his secret place.

The next morning, Tails opened his eyes and looked around, a sensation of happiness followed by utter misery flooding through him. Sonic had been friends with him and he'd made the hedgehog mad. His first real friend and he'd never play with him again.

Tails sniffed once, then abruptly scrambled out of his secret place and flew towards the beach, landing a hundred yards away and stretching. Looked like it was back to the Pounce Attack Game.

The sight of a familiar blue figure among the normal sunbathers caused Tails to stop and stare.

_Sonic_. Could he...dare he risk another pounce attack on the hedgehog? It had made Sonic be friends with him before, so maybe it'd work again?

Quietly, not liking to think about the consequences if he was wrong, Tails snuck up and pounced, landing squarely on Sonic's stomach. The hedgehog didn't move, didn't react. Puzzled – he'd never done a pounce attack that was met with total indifference before – Tails padded on all fours up Sonic's prone body to peer into his face. The eyes were still closed and, in spite of the weight that had just crashed onto it, the hedgehog's chest rose and fell evenly.

Sighing, Tails slumped on top of Sonic. Looked like his new friend didn't want to play after all. He must really be mad at Tails to ignore him like that. Well...lying napping was kinda nice too...and at least Sonic hadn't yelled at him or thrown things at him or chased him away like most pounce attackees...Tails closed his eyes.

Someone flicked his ear lightly and Tails yipped in surprise, then opened his eyes to stare at Sonic's right hand, which was lying passively by its owner's side. Crouching down, squinting at his target, he prepared to pounce again when someone flicked his other ear. Startled, Tails spun around, tried to pounce on both the hedgehog's hands at once, overbalanced and fell sideways to land squarely in the crook of Sonic's suddenly outstretched arm, which caught hold of him firmly while the other hand arced over to tickle the fox until Tails was shrieking and breathless with laughter.

Rolling over to fix him with a mock-stern look, Sonic said, "So what's all this about? You don't want me to nap in peace anymore, is that it?"

Impulsively, Tails flung both arms around the hedgehog and hugged him tightly.

"Hey." Startled, and secretly more than a little touched, Sonic returned the gesture. "What was that for?"

Suddenly shy again, half frightened by his own audacity, Tails buried his face in Sonic's chest and didn't answer.

"Nothin'," he mumbled at last. "Jus' wanted to, 'sall." Abruptly he lifted his head to fix Sonic with a solemn, big-eyed look. "Sonic, you're not gonna leave, right? 'Cause you been here _ages_ an' you're still here."

Sonic took a long, deep breath. "Tails, I can't stay. This place is...well, it's beautiful, but it's not my home."

"It could be! You could move in an' live with me in the cave an' I'd even let you have my secret place if you want!"

"Tails, I wouldn't expect you to give that up—"

"I wouldn't be giving it up, honest. Well, I kinda would, but I'll do it if you stay. Sonic, I don't ever wanna be alone again. Promise you'll stay with me. Please?"

The fox's pleading tones struck a deep chord in Sonic, but he still shook his head.

"No. I won't make you that promise, Tails, because I can't keep it."

"Well...promise you'll stay on Westside Island then. C'mon Sonic, there's loadsa cool Zones you can live in, you can even move around if you don't wanna tie yourself down to one an' I could still come see you an'...an'...even if you're not gonna stay, can't you at least tell me you are so's I can pretend?"

"How is that fair? I tell you I'm going to stay, send you onto cloud nine and then turn around and say, 'Sorry, I lied'. I'll stay with you all the time I stay in this Zone, that I _do_ promise, but I'm not gonna give you false hope; one day before the year's out, I'm going to leave."

"It's not fair," Tails mumbled.

"The world isn't fair, Tails. You'll learn that one day."

"I already have. It's not fair 'cause people don't wanna play with me 'cause I'm a freak an' it's not fair that you're gonna leave me alone again even though I know you probably gotta do important stuff an' I know that everybody's gonna blame _me_ for you leaving 'cause either you got sick of hanging out with a freak or you thought everyone here was like me or you got bored 'cause you were always hanging out with me and not doing fun stuff an'...an'...an' I on'y _wanted_ somebody to _play_ with me..." Tails' voice rose almost to a wail on this last part and he started to cry.

"Oh, hey." Somewhat taken aback by the reaction he'd unwittingly provoked, Sonic hugged the fox tightly. Tails attempted to wriggle free, but the hedgehog refused to let go and in the end Tails gave up and collapsed against him. "Tails, c'mon, it's gonna be okay."

"Sonic, don't go. You can stay, honest you can." Tails was now clinging determinedly to the hedgehog.

"No. I can't. You said you understood that."

Tails' small body quivered. "I do...kinda. But I didn't know I was gonna miss you this much."

"Miss me? I haven't left yet, kiddo."

"But you're gonna...an' then I'll be all alone again." Tails sniffed loudly. "Wish you'd gone earlier, then it...it..."

"It wouldn't be so painful?" Sonic said quietly.

A nod. "Uh huh. But then you wouldn't be able to see my secret place or my cave." The fox fixed him with a hopeful look. "It's really cool in autumn, mister. All the trees an' stuff ref...reflexive in the water."

"Reflected."

"Yeah, that. It's real cool, I don't want you to miss it." Tails took a long, quivering breath. "Sonic, if you leave me I'm gonna die. That's what that guy said an'...an' I don't wanna die. I wanna stay with you an' live."

Sonic closed his eyes. Damn Mighty! First the chicken incident and now this! Had the armadillo known Tails was listening? Probably not; although he wasn't above using guilt and shock tactics as weapons, he wouldn't say or do anything if he thought it might hurt a kid.

_Mighty's right though. I can't leave him, not like this. He'll most likely be dead before that autumn comes round._

"Sonic?" Tails said suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Will you do something for me?"

"Depends what it is."

The fox sniffled, wriggling around to shove his head hard under Sonic's jaw. "That spindash thing you do, it's real powerful, right?"

Sonic hesitated. "Yeah, but Tails, if you're gonna ask me to go sort out the jerks who keep picking on you—"

"Uh uh. They'd never wanna be friends with me then."

The hedgehog took a long, deep breath. "Tails...kiddo, some people just...they don't want to be friends no matter what you say or do."

"They will after you do this!"

"I'm not going to hurt them." Remembering the reaction he tended to get, Sonic added, "Or bribe them either."

"N-no, it's...Sonic, it's..." Tails gulped and went on a little shakily. "Sonic...if we pegged it out so's you had something to aim for, c'n you spindash me an' cut off one of my tails?"

"Can I _what_!" Shock caused Sonic to drop his hands, only realising his mistake when Tails seized them and dragged them around his shoulders again.

"C'n you cut off one of my tails? You can do that, right?"

"No! I mean, yeah, I _can_, but I'm not gonna." Sonic shook his head. "Jeez, kiddo, what put such a crazy idea into your head?"

"It's _not_ crazy! The kids all hate me an' call me a freak 'cause I got two tails. So if I on'y had _one_, they'd see I was jus' like them an' lemme play with them an' we could be friends an' I could show 'em my cave an' my secret place an' stuff. An' don't you _dare_ laugh at my idea either!"

"I'm not laughing," Sonic said soberly. He didn't think he'd ever heard anything less funny in all his life; in fact, he was fighting a strange and inexplicable urge to cry. The idea that Tails was so desperate for friends and playmates that he'd resort to something like that...

"You're gonna do it, right? 'Cause I don't wanna have to do it myself...I might mess up."

"Tails, the—" Sonic began, then stopped. He'd been about to say _the risk of infection_, but bit down on that hard; talking about little, specific parts of a problem was the first step on the road to acceptance. "I don't hurt my friends," he said instead.

"You hurt me plenty when you said you were gonna leave."

The hedgehog closed his eyes. "I deserved that, I guess. But I am not going to maim and put you through who knows how much pain and blood loss for something that's not gonna work. I'd..." he stopped again. What he wanted to say was that he'd only do something like that if Tails' tail was so badly injured or crushed it couldn't be mended, like underneath a rock or something, but he swallowed that on the ghastly basis that the little fox might actually take him at his word.

"Sonic, please...jus' a li'l pain an' it'll all be over, an' I'll have friends. Please? I won't hate you or get mad at you or tell people you did it if that's why you don't wanna—"

"I don't wanna do it because it's _wrong_. I know you think having only one tail would solve things, but it wouldn't. Instead of being known as the freak with two tails you'd be known as the freak who went around maiming himself—do you know what maiming is?"

A shake of the head.

"Hurting, but very badly."

Tails swallowed. "Sonic...please let's not drag it out any longer, 'kay? 'Cause I know it's gonna hurt real bad, at least twice as bad as the time I cut my foot on that bit of glass, so I wanna get it done before I change my mind."

"It's not gonna be done, Tails."

The fox looked up at Sonic, hurt. "I thought you didn't like me being picked on."

"I don't, kiddo, not at all, but this isn't the way to stop it."

"Yes it is! I asked Caud's gang what they wanted me to do an' they said if I cut off one of my tails they'd lemme play with them!"

Sonic shook his head. "They were lying, kiddo. They were playing a very nasty joke on you."

He regretted his honesty a second later as Tails' face crumpled.

"You mean...they're not gonna play with me? Even if I do what they want they're still gonna jus' laugh an' call me a freak?"

Sonic met the little fox's huge blue eyes with his own quiet ones, wishing he'd kept his mouth shut.

"No, Tails. They're not going to play with you. Not now, not ever."

"An' you're not neither, not when you 'bandon me."

The fox's choice of words shocked Sonic to the core. "Tails, I'm not gonna _abandon_ you!"

Tails looked up at him. "Then what are you gonna do with me?"

_I wish I knew_, Sonic thought wretchedly. Deep down he knew that the fox was right, that there was no other word for what he was going to do.

But that didn't make it any easier.

"Sonic, promise me one thing, 'kay?" Tails said.

"Depends what it is."

The fox gulped. "When you...when you do go, c'n you take me for a ride in your plane first?"

Sonic glanced down at him and ruffled the fur on Tails' head. "Sure."

"I'll keep wishing, though," Tails said, with all the fervour of a true believer. "I'll ask the star for a way to stop us being sep'rated."

"Or ask it to send you another friend," Sonic suggested. "One that doesn't have to keep on the move."

"You don't _have_ to, Sonic, you on'y _want_ to." Tails half turned, snuggling his head up under Sonic's chin. "'Sides, I don't wanna 'nother friend. I want _you_. Can't you at least stay long enough to see my cave an' my secret place?" Before the hedgehog had a chance to answer, Tails suddenly leapt to his feet. "Oh boy, I forgot!"

"Huh?"

"Wait here, Sonic! You gotta wait; I gotta go get something to show you!" Tails turned and raced for the forest. Somewhat taken aback – as well as curious – Sonic lay back against the hot sand.

It was about fifteen minutes later when Tails returned and skidded to a stop.

"Uh. Sonic?"

The hedgehog spat out a mouthful of sand; Tails' skid had been a little too enthusiastic and Sonic had been sprayed in sand.

"Yeah?"

Tails squirmed, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other. "I, uh, I got something for you."

"For me?" Sonic blinked. "What?"

"Well...I didn't want you to forget me when you left so I, uh, I did this for you..." Tracing patterns on the ground with his toe, Tails held out a folded piece of paper, studying his feet with a singularly bashful expression.

"What's this?" Sonic took it carefully and opened it, looking at the contents. It was a crayon drawing of him holding hands with Tails on a green hill with the sun shining in the background. Art wasn't the fox's strong point, and the kindest thing that could be said about the picture was that at least Tails had got the colours right. Written across the top in straggling letters that had probably taken as long as the drawing to complete, if not longer, were the words _my frend sonnick_.

"If you don't like it you c'n throw it away," Tails said, possibly mistaking the hedgehog's stunned silence for distaste.

Sonic looked down at the fox. "No. It's great." He swallowed past an obstruction that had suddenly formed in his throat. "Really, kiddo, it's great. Thanks."

Tails looked up at him, then away despondently. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to make you sad. I jus' thought, mebbe it'd be easier for you to 'member me if you had a...well..." He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I'll take it back. I on'y thought that mebbe..."

"Tails, I..." Sonic looked down at the drawing again, then at the little fox. "I don't know what to say." Placing the drawing carefully to one side, he caught hold of Tails and hugged him hard.

"Sonic!" Tails protested; the hedgehog's hug really was uncomfortably tight. "You'll squirt my brains out my ears!"

"Sorry li'l buddy." Sonic eased the hold a little and Tails wriggled closer.

"'S not a good picture. I jus' noticed you on'y got two spines on your side. But I couldn't ask you to sit there an' let me draw you 'cause that would've spoiled the surprise."

"True." Sonic reached down with one hand to ruffle the fox's fur. "You're one great kid, you know that?" He looked over at the drawing again and felt a grin appear on his face. Two spikes or not (by the looks of it, Tails had given him about ten, with mundanities like the hedgehog's arms and legs being added in as a kind of afterthought) the effort that had gone into it alone made it worthwhile. Except...

"I think you forgot something," Sonic said aloud.

"Yeah?" Tails clambered up onto Sonic's shoulders to peer at the drawing. "What?"

The hedgehog pointed. "Well, you only have one tail in the picture."

Tails squirmed. "Yeah. I kinda left the other one off deliberately. I don't want you to 'member I was some kinda freak. I want you to think I was normal an' after a long time you'll forget I got two tails."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Kiddo, I'm never gonna forget something like that and I don't intend to try. I want to remember you as _you_, not as just an ordinary kid."

"But I _wanna_ be a...a nornery kid."

"Yeah, so did I when I was your age." Sonic conveniently left out the fact that he had been. "Some things just can't be helped."

An idea occurred to Tails and he looked up. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"If I add the extra tail on me, _then_ will you stay to see my cave an' my secret place?"

Sonic took a deep breath. "Tails..."

"Not forever. Jus'...jus' until the waterfall melts an' we can get into my cave. It'll melt in spring, promise."

Sonic looked down at the fox and felt something inside him give way, something he hadn't even been aware of until it had gone.

"Yeah. Okay, yeah. You add the extra tail _and _start eating again," Sonic added pointedly, "and I'll stay here until the spring."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

And who knew, Sonic thought as he settled back in the hot sand again and closed his eyes, maybe he'd even decide to stay longer? This Zone was pretty cool, at least as far as weather and location went...

"Pounce attack!"

Sonic winced as fifty pounds of baby fox crashed down onto his midriff. Of course, every silver lining had a cloud...

**Okay, another chapter done :D Sorry it took longer than usual; been busy revelling in my freshly decorated flat (happy sigh) Anyways, more will be along very soon and if you read, please review :)**


	5. New Ideas, Old Problems

**Toboe16: (grins) Thanks; glad you're enjoying it :D**

**FriedBrickWall: Thanks, and rest assured I will ;)**

**Shaddress: Yes, Sonic is twelve (I think his age is mentioned in an earlier chapter) Mighty is...well, he was a character in an early Sega game and in most of the comics as well ;)**

**Samantha27: Thanks :D Yes, Tails does know he can fly; in a couple of previous chapters it mentions how he flew down from his secret place...he just doesn't like doing it because then he feels even more of a freak ;) And I'm pleased you liked the part about the drawing as well :P**

**Sonic-Addict: (blushes) Thanks; glad you liked it :) And...well, is this update soon enough for you? ;)**

**SaffraEchidna: (grins) Thanks :D No, actually, I haven't got the _Shadow the Hedgehog_ game; I'm waiting for it to be re-released on PC :P**

**Asher Tye: I agree...although the 'sick' effect was kind of what I was going for :) And like I told Samantha27, yes, Tails does know he can fly (and has flown in earlier chapters :P) but is somewhat ashamed of it; he just wants to fit in and be accepted as a regular fox kid, and he thinks his flying would put something of a dent in that ;) I'm glad you liked Sonic's 'extra' emotions too :P I've started writing the first Sonic game and since I'm a big fan of the whole 'Sonic created Robotnik' idea, it's far more of a dark, psychological story than this one but it sets the scene for Sonic's mood :P**

"Sonic, I got it! I got it, Sonic, wake up, I got it!" Tails threw himself onto Sonic's chest then seized the hedgehog by the shoulders and shook him excitedly. "C'mon Sonic, wake _up_! I _got_ it!"

Sonic opened his eyes blearily. "Huh? Got wha', Tails?"

Tails sat back on his heels, well pleased with himself. "I got the answer."

"Answer t'wha'?" Sonic said around a yawn.

"I know how you won't have to leave me!"

Sonic stopped mid-yawn, then glanced at him. "Tails, we've been through this before; I'm not staying in Emerald Hill Zone."

"I know. You're gonna leave an' go all over Mobius." Now Tails was looking as though all his dreams had come true. "An' I'm gonna leave with you."

"Oh righ'..." Sonic lay back down again, already more asleep than awake.

Tails, who knew the hedgehog fairly well by now, started counting in his head. He'd reached eight when Sonic's eyes flew open again and the hedgehog sat bolt upright, no longer sleepy.

"_What_?"

"I'm gonna leave with you, Sonic."

Sonic stared at him. "You're gonna _what_? Are you crazy?"

"Nuh uh! I was sitting up tonight trying to work out how to stop you leaving an' realised I couldn't, so I decided the on'y way would be to leave with you."

The hedgehog shook his head. "You _are_ crazy, Tails. Either that or I'm having a bad dream."

"You're gonna need me, Sonic."

"How'd you figure _that_ one?" Sonic shook his head again. "No offence, kiddo, but I think you need me a lot more than I need you."

"Well...jus' 'cause you're leaving Emerald Hill Zone doesn't mean you're leaving Westside Island. There're loads of cool Zones here to visit an'...an' you'll need a guide. We got some great Zones here an' I c'n show you round."

"Yeah? Which great Zones would these be? According to you, three Zones are so polluted you need a gas mask to last longer than about three minutes, one is underwater, one is the home of gambling addicts and drunkards, one's so dark you can't see the spike traps and one explodes on a regular basis."

Tails floundered. "Yeah but...but all that stuff's jus' for the tourists. You're a...a celery."

Sonic's lips quirked. "Celebrity, and I'm not that either." He shook his head. "Tails, I can't take you with me. Don't take this the wrong way, but you're just a little kid. I can't risk you getting hurt."

Tails frowned. "How would you be taking the risk when it would be _me_ getting hurt? Not that I'm gonna," he added.

"It would be my fault if you got hurt because of some dangerous situation I dragged you into."

"So don't drag me into any dangerous situations," Tails said, with the air of one stating the painfully obvious. "Sonic, if you don't agree to take me along I'll jus' follow you anyway!"

Sonic smiled slightly. "You have your own plane now, do you?"

Tails snorted. "Ha! I don't need no plane, Sonic, 'cause I can—" He broke off, shutting his mouth with a snap. Sonic glanced at him.

"You can what?"

"Nothing," Tails mumbled. Nobody knew he could fly, and he planned to keep it that way. "You gotta take me with you, Sonic. Else you're not gonna have anyone to play the Pounce Attack Game with."

"Oh yeah. Right. Boy, how will I ever survive without being pounce attacked by a fox every two minutes?" Sonic said, grinning at Tails' scowl. The grin disappeared as he added, "Tails...why me? And don't say it's just because I'm Sonic the hedgehog!"

"Well, it is! Kinda. I mean, you haven't called me a freak or screamed whenever I brushed 'gainst you."

Sonic stared at him. "They do that here?"

Tails nodded. "Uh huh. You're the first person who ever wanted to touch me. Everyone else just yells _Freak_ or yelps an' jerks away. I asked one of 'em why an' he said it was 'cause his dad said bein' a freak was con...cun...cantank'rous."

"Contagious."

"Right. An' if a grown-up says it, it's gotta be true. Sonic, aren't you scared I'm contagious? What's contagious?"

"It means...when someone has a disease that other people can get from touching them, that person's contagious."

"I have a _disease_?" Tails' eyes opened hugely. "A bad one? Real bad? Sonic, I-I don't wanna die..."

Sonic shook his head and caught hold of the fox in a hug. "You're not gonna die, Tails. You're not gonna die and you do _not_ have a disease. It's just a lot of small people trying to talk big, that's all."

"Small?" Tails looked up at Sonic. "Have you seen Ursam's dad? He's _humongous_."

"Figure of speech."

"What's that?"

Sonic opened his mouth, shut it again and then said, "Never mind. Go to sleep, kiddo."

"Okay." Tails snuggled down in the corner – despite the lack of space, he insisted on sleeping in the cockpit with Sonic – and wrapped both namesakes around him for warmth. "An' I can come with you, right Sonic?"

"We'll talk about it some other time," Sonic said evasively. "Go to _sleep_." He closed his eyes and burrowed into his blanket, then emerged as a drop of rain splattered on his head. Growling under his breath, he reached out and yanked the sliding roof over them, then went back to sleep.

Tails stayed awake a lot longer, mostly because he had cramp in one foot and was frantically massaging it in an effort to make it go away.

Thunder growled softly in the sky above just as the muscles loosened and Tails cringed. Oh boy. He'd hoped for a little longer with Sonic before a storm came, or at the very least he'd hoped not to be in the hedgehog's plane. Storms were real bad news. You got thrown out in storms, and Sonic wanted to go without him anyway.

Tails frowned hard in concentration. He wasn't stupid, and he knew his chances of being able to fly fast enough and far enough to follow Sonic in the air were almost nonexistent. And he couldn't follow if the hedgehog didn't want him to; all Sonic had to do was carry him real far away and dump him and then zoom back and leave before Tails had even started to walk home. But there had to be a way...

His roving gaze caught sight of a spare cable Sonic had dragged out in the hopes it could help repair the Tornado and his eyes lit up as inspiration struck. Reaching out, Tails picked up the cable and then pushed the button to send Sonic's seat forward. It obeyed with a harsh grinding sound, one which roused the hedgehog from his slumber.

"Tails, wha' y'doin'?"

Tails tied the cable around his waist securely and fastened the other end to the shaft behind Sonic's seat, then pushed it back into place.

"Sorry. You c'n go back to sleep now."

Sonic half sat up. "But what were you doing?"

"Well, the seat whirs real loud when you move it forward an' if you try an' untie me I'll know an' wake up so I'll get some advance warning when you make me leave."

"What?" Sonic sat up more fully. "I'm not going to make you leave, Tails, what gave you that idea?"

"It's stormy."

As though to drive home the point, thunder exploded just above them and Tails yelped loudly and then dived forward, burying himself in Sonic's chest and quivering violently.

"You don't like storms?" Sonic guessed.

A vigorous shake of the head. "Uh uh. 'Cause I was sleeping when those people came an' made me leave my mum and dad's house an' it was dark an' all stormy like this an'...I jus' wanted to get some advance warning for when you make me leave your plane. 'Cause if it hadn't been stormy last time they wouldn'ta made me leave. An' it's stormy now so that means _you're_ gonna make me leave."

Sonic rubbed the fox's back gently. "Tails, who the hell told you all this?"

"No one did, Sonic. I figured it out all by myself. An' when I was bein' carried out, one said to the other, looks like we're gonna have to bar the doors against this one an' the other said, well, it's perfect weather for throwing someone out. An' they did, Sonic, right into the storm."

Lightning and thunder blasted above them almost simultaneously and Tails yelped again, struggling to bury his head further into Sonic's warm body.

"Tails. Tails, c'mon, c'mere." Twisting around, Sonic hugged the fox tightly. "It's only the weather. It's not gonna hurt you."

"It's stormy, Sonic, an' last time it was stormy I got thrown out. You get thrown out in storms. An' last time that happened I banged my knees real bad. When you throw me out, c'n you do it gently?"

"I'm not gonna throw you out, kiddo. What do you mean, you banged your knees?"

"Jus' that. I tole you they threw me outta my mum and dad's house, Sonic."

"I didn't think you meant _literally_." Sonic shifted his grip, rocking the terrified fox back and forth in an effort to soothe him. It didn't appear to be working. "Where does your tying yourself to my plane come into this, anyway?"

"On'y that whichever end you untie to throw me out you're gonna wake me up 'cause the chair makes noise an' if you take the bit off my tummy I'll feel it 'cause I'm real ticklish down there."

A wicked gleam crept into Sonic's eyes and he slid one hand down to the fox's stomach. "I know."

"Nuh uh!" Tails batted the hedgehog's hand away, glowering at him. "Don't you dare, Sonic! Don't you dare tickle me! It's not fair to tickle someone an' then throw them out!"

The gleam in Sonic's eyes abruptly went out. "I wish you'd get over this, Tails. I'm not gonna throw you out."

Tails snorted. "Yeah, right. You must think I'm real dumb, huh Sonic? I tole you what that guy said. Nobody could throw me out the cave or my secret place 'cause nobody owns 'em but _you_ own this plane an' I'm in it an' it's stormy an' that means I'm gonna get thrown out."

Sonic started to say (rather irritably) that no, it didn't, when he thought of something better. If he was going to solve this, he had to get to the root of it...

"Tails, tell me about the time you got thrown out of your home?"

The fox glanced up at him. "What's to tell?"

"A lot. From the beginning, please."

Tails looked away, ears drooping. "Well...I kinda don't know much 'cause I can't 'member exactly what happened. All I know was that my mum and dad died an' I went home an' went to bed late 'cause I could. I mean, I did miss my fam'ly an' everything, but no bedtime's no bedtime, Sonic, right?"

"You say so..."

"It was real stormy an' I used to like lying in bed an' listening to storms, but I was real tired an' so I went straight to sleep. Then..." Tails' voice trailed off and he ducked his head.

"Go on," Sonic said softly.

"Then someone grabbed me an' I woke up. Someone else grabbed me an' they both started carrying me out my room an' out the house. I heard 'em say what I tole you they said, 'bout the weather an' everything, an' then they threw me out an' I banged both knees. I tried to go back in but the guy at the door said I couldn't an' that I had to go 'cause of that foreclosure thing. I kep' trying to go back but they kept shoving me away. Eventually one of them hit me an' I fell 'sleep. When I woke up I was in a forest an' I ran back home but there were other people living there an' they wouldn't let me in, not even to get my favourite toy to take with me." Tails' ears had drooped so far down that they were almost pressed flat against his skull and he turned to rest the side of his face against Sonic's chest, then looked up at him. "I miss my toys, Sonic. D'you think those people are taking good care of them?"

"Yeah," Sonic said very quietly. "I'm sure they are. And I'll tell you something else, little buddy; what happened to you had nothing at all to do with the weather. Those guys would have done what they did if it had been sunny, cloudy, snowing or raining frogs."

Tails' ears perked up slightly. "Can it do that?"

"I dunno. I'm not a rain cloud. But I'll tell you what I do know; I'm not gonna throw you out, Tails, no matter what happens or what the weather does."

"Why'd they do it then?"

How did you explain the concept of mortgages and repossession to a four-year-old, Sonic wondered wretchedly. Aloud he said, "Well...your parents had a mortgage, which means they borrowed a lot of money from someone to help buy their house, and when they died they still owed some of that money. So the people who lent it to them decided to take their house instead."

Tails flattened his ears. "But they didn't have to take my toys, Sonic. They're not worth money. Did my mum and dad have a more itch thing for them too?"

"Mortgage, and no, kiddo. You only have mortgages for big things like houses or hovercars."

"Okay, but then why didn't they let me take just one toy? I know I can make toys an' ev'rything, but I still miss 'em. Sonic, am I ever gonna see 'em again?"

Sonic took a deep breath. "No, Tails. I don't think so. I'm sorry, kiddo." He paused. "D'you know who the guys were who threw you out?"

Tails yawned. "Jus' some guys. I'm real sorry I woke you, Sonic. If you're not gonna throw me out, c'n we go back to sleep?"

"Yeah. Yeah, lil buddy, let's get some shuteye."

Satisfied, Tails closed his eyes and was asleep within minutes.

Next to him, Sonic remained awake for a long, long time. Tails had told Sonic about getting thrown out, and the hedgehog was shrewd enough to read between the lines and understand just how traumatic and frightening an experience it had been for the little fox.

_Falls asleep in a nice warm house and gets woken up by some strangers grabbing him and forcibly ejecting him...that must've been bad. Poor little guy._ Sonic reached down and ran a hand over the fur on Tails' head and back. The fox mumbled something deep in his throat and squirmed, pressing close to Sonic's touch. _Jeez, would it have killed them to at least wait until morning?_

He shook his head. Someone as naturally playful and affectionate as Tails...it stood to reason that the kid would feel loneliness more acutely than most people.

Well, there was only one way to sort this once and for all. Wrapping Tails securely in a blanket, the hedgehog slid out silently and set out for the restaurant where he'd bought Tails that lunch. He needed answers, and the bear who owned that restaurant was the only one he trusted to give them to him. The guy hadn't acted the way he had because he thought Tails was a freak – which had been Sonic's first impression – he'd acted that way because he thought Tails was sneaking out without paying...in short, he'd treated Tails (and Sonic) exactly the same way he'd treat any other customer, and that alone had earned him Sonic's respect.

"You lived here long?" he asked as soon as he arrived. The bear didn't even blink.

"All my life."

Sonic traced a finger through the spilt gin on top of the bar as he said casually, "So...if I were to ask you about a certain family, you could tell me?"

The bear froze, then glared at him. "Asking questions like that can lead to a heap o' trouble in these parts."

"More trouble than Robotnik?" Sonic asked, squashing the mental wail that always surfaced in his mind whenever the doctor's name was mentioned, a wail that was a kind of inner anguish. "Look, I'm not gonna drop you in it. I just want to know...that two-tailed fox who was with me a month or so back. D'you know anything about him?"

"Young Miles Prower?" The bear shrugged. "Not much. Folks died in a hovercar accident a couple years back and his house was repossessed."

"Who by?"

The bear stopped rubbing glasses and stared hard at Sonic. "You wouldn't be thinkin' along the lines of revenge, would ya?"

"Revenge!" Sonic feigned offence. "Perish the thought! No, I just want to find out who chucked that little cub out in the middle of the night and left him on his own and have a little _chat_ with them."

"Yeah? This wouldn't be the kinda little chat that leaves broken limbs behind, would it?"

"What?" Now Sonic's offence was real. "No! What kinda guy do you think I am?"

"Just checkin'." The bear shrugged. "I can tell you what you wanna know, but it'll cost ya."

"How much?" Sonic said resignedly.

"Twenty five Mobiums, plus you recommend this place to anyone you meet on your travels."

Sonic, who hadn't expected to get away with less than fifty, rolled his eyes. "Fine. Here." He handed over three ten Mobium notes and took the five in change. "Now who are they and where can I find them?"

The bear pointed. "Straight outta here, turn right and keep on that road. You'll come to a club called Shakers. They hang out in there, when they hang out anywhere. You're looking for a civet and a...actually, there's just the civet; the jackal half of that partnership died three years ago. Guy's got a son called Caud, maybe you know him?"

"We've met," Sonic said flatly. "Shakers, huh? Okay, thanks." Turning, he sped away, not stopping or even slowing until he was standing in front of the club. Then, taking a deep breath – clubs like this really weren't his scene – he pushed open the door and stepped in.

He was pleasantly surprised to find it well-lit and nicely decorated, with several families sitting around various tables and chatting to each other. The gang (big surprise, Sonic thought wearily) was clustered around the bar and each taking turns trying to persuade, cajole and intimidate the person working there that they were legally old enough to drink.

_Pity that guy wasn't on duty when I got plastered_, Sonic thought, then shifted in readiness as the jackal caught sight of him and nudged Caud, who turned.

"Finally get sick of hanging out with the freak, huh Sonic?" the civet drawled by way of greeting. "Not before time. You wanna drink?"

Sonic shot him an icy stare. "Not with you. I'm looking for your father."

"Over here."

Glancing in the direction of the voice, Sonic saw that the civet who spoke could only be Caud's father; the resemblance was uncanny. His friends might prove a slight inconvenience, but nothing to worry about.

"I'm glad I found you." Sonic didn't have to raise his voice; the entire club had fallen silent and was watching the proceedings with a predatory interest. The DJ had even stopped the music, the better to eavesdrop.

"You work in the repo business, right?" Sonic continued.

Caud shifted his weight, suddenly uneasy. He may have been a bully but he wasn't stupid, and he had a very good idea what Sonic was there to talk about.

Caud's father took a swig of his drink before fixing slightly bloodshot eyes on the hedgehog. "Yeah, 'sright."

"Two years ago, you repossessed a certain house belonging to a family by the name of Prower."

"What if I did?" Alcohol, along with his own natural temper, was making the civet belligerent and he shoved his chair back from the table, rising to his feet in an attempt to intimidate Sonic. It would probably have worked too, if the hedgehog hadn't spent a recent six months of his life fighting a guerrilla war single-handedly and coming face to face with far larger and more terrifying adversaries than a half-drunk civet.

"You seized a two year old kid and threw him out into a storm much like this one."

The civet shrugged. "Just doin' my job. Kid like that don't have no real feelings anyway."

Sonic stared at him coldly. "Did he cry? Plead with you to stop or let him go, or at least explain why you were doing what you were?"

Another shrug. "All kids cry. And why should I waste my breath explaining somethin' to a freak who won't understand it? What business is it of yours, anyway?"

Sonic took a long, deep breath. For the first time in his life, he understood how someone in a towering rage could commit murder.

"Touch him again and I will annihilate not only you but your entire Zone into the bargain," he said in deadly tones. "You know who I am. You know I can do it. I guess it's no surprise your son turned out how he did. You know his gang told Tails to mutilate himself?"

"It wasn't my fault. _I_ didn't come up with that idea!" Caud protested, then cringed as the hedgehog's jade stare swivelled around to pierce him.

"Did you try and stop it?"

Caud squirmed. He was three years older than the hedgehog and at least eighty pounds heavier, but something about Sonic's stare made him feel like a little cub again.

"It was only a bit of fun. That kid's got no sense of humour."

"Well, at least you think of him as another kid now," Sonic said. "I guess that's something of a step forward." He shook his head. "Is there _anyone_ here who can tell me truthfully that they had no idea what was going on?"

"It wasn't my fault!" Caud protested again.

"It damn well was!" Sonic practically snarled at him. "All of you who turned a blind eye to this crap, who didn't have the guts to stand up and say something, it's your fault. I now have a fox cub hanging onto me who has been begging me to slice off one of his tails because he thinks if he only has one, you'll be more likely to let him join in and play with you."

The jackal sitting next to Caud snorted with laughter. "Yeah? Man, he really _is_ a freak, isn't he? Did he say when this was gonna happen? I wouldn't mind watching." A strange glitter appeared in his eyes. "Hell, if he needs help, I'll be more than happy to do the honours."

"Yeah," Sonic said icily. "I bet you would, you sick jerk. And what I said to that guy goes double for you; come near Tails again and I will beat you into the ground. And you—" this was addressed to the rest of the patrons, who all seemed suddenly very interested in their meals— "you could have done something. You could've taken him in, fed him, looked after him, hell, even just given him a hug once in a while. And instead, what are you doing? You're stuffing your faces, drinking, chatting and having a good time while some little kid cries his eyes out every night because you've convinced him he's a freak, that nobody's ever going to want to be friends with him or play with him." He spun on his heel and raced to the door, where he paused. "I'm leaving now," he added in hard tones. "Feel free to pick up where you left off."

---

The sound of someone clambering in next to him woke Tails out of a deep sleep. Opening his eyes, he came face to face with Sonic, who was eyeing him with folded arms, although the hedgehog looked more amused than angry.

"Miles Prower, huh?" he said.

Tails winced. Oh boy. How had Sonic found out his real name?

"Don't call me that, mister, _please_," he said aloud. "Anything but that."

A wicked gleam crept into Sonic's eyes. "Then don't call me mister."

"Sorry mister."

"Apology accepted. Miles."

"Where'd you go to, Sonic?"

The hedgehog smiled slightly. "I had some business to attend to, Tails, that's all. Go on back to sleep."

"You gonna sleep too?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am, but not here; it's too crowded with two of us. I'll be in the passenger seat if you need me."

Climbing out, he slid noiselessly along into the seat in front and settled in. Out the corner of his eye, he was vaguely aware of Tails double-checking the security of the cable around the fox's waist and sighed. He couldn't blame the kid for being reluctant to trust his word. All he could do was wait and hope Tails lost a little of his paranoia, preferably sooner rather than later.

With that in mind, he fell asleep and didn't even stir until—

"Sonic." Tails clambered into the passenger seat and shook the hedgehog. "Sonic, wake up."

"Huh? Wha..."

"Look." Tails pointed. "What're them?"

Sonic sat up, followed the fox's finger, caught sight of the machines and abruptly dropped down again, pulling Tails down with him.

"Ow! Sonic, what—"

"Quiet." Sonic's hand clamped over the fox's mouth, not hard but firmly enough to prevent Tails from crying out. "Don't move. Don't make a sound. Those things are buzz bombers. They don't carry bombs or anything crazy like that, but their targeting system's based on sound and movement."

Tails started to say that this targeting system would probably find it much harder to actually target them if Sonic would stop explaining all this to him, then thought of a better question.

"Is it Robotnik?"

"Yeah."

"Cool." Tails barely breathed the word, but there was no mistaking the excitement that shone in his eyes.

"No it damn well isn't _cool_! It's..." Sonic shook his head. "Damn, I thought he'd given up for good after our fight in Sky Base."

"Sonic, what's the red light for?"

Sonic froze.

"What red light?" he said very carefully.

"The one that's moving up your tummy."

Sonic glanced down to see the red light of a buzz bomber tracker beam passing over his hide.

"Oh crap!" He seized Tails' wrist and bolted into the forest, towing the fox along behind as though he weighed next to nothing. Behind them, he heard the whirr of machinery as one, then two, then half a dozen buzz bombers locked in on his movement and picked up the pace.

"Sonic, there's a chasm ahead!" Tails yelped over the rushing wind. "_Sonic_!"

Sonic jammed on the brakes, skidded until he was knee deep in sand, then abruptly veered off to the right. There was a rumbling sound and the ground collapsed under him, spilling him down towards the rushing river at the bottom.

"No! _No_!"

"Hang on!" Tails shifted to grip Sonic's wrists, there was a thwapping sound and to his amazement, Sonic found himself being propelled through the air. Tails managed to fly him across the river, namesakes whirring frantically as he tried to compensate for Sonic's weight, then both tails cramped simultaneously and he yelped, dropping out of the air to land hard on top of the hedgehog. Twisting around, he grabbed both tails and rubbed them hard, whimpering slightly.

Sonic stared at Tails, mouth open.

"You can _fly_?"

The fox squirmed. Here it came, the cries of _Freak_ and _Loser_. Still, his flying had saved Sonic's life, so he supposed that was something to console himself with.

"Uh...yeah."

"You can _fly_?"

"You don't have to rub it in," Tails said miserably. "I jus'...I didn't wanna see you die."

There was a silence.

"You can _fly_?" Sonic said for the third time. He seemed to be having difficulty getting his head around the concept of an airborne fox.

"_Yeah_. Look, you don't gotta tell me I'm a freak, Sonic, I _know_ I'm a freak."

"Are you kidding? A flying fox..." Sonic shook his head, now grinning broadly. "Oh man, how cool is _that_! I wish I could fly."

Tails hesitated. "You mean...you're not gonna start yelling things like _freak _or _loser_?"

"Are you kidding?" Sonic said again. "That...you just...where'd you learn how to _do_ that?"

"Dunno. I jus' always been able to do it. That's how I found my secret place; I flew up there. An' my cave, though you can get there by walking too, it's jus' real far up in the mountains." Tails perked up slightly. "You...you wanna see it?" he asked hesitantly, as though frightened the hedgehog was going to throw the offer back in his face.

Sonic glanced at the little fox and forced a grin. "Sure."

"Okay!" Tails leapt to his feet, grinning back and seized Sonic by the hand. "C'mon, let's go!" He tugged the hedgehog behind him for all of three yards before abruptly stopping and slumping. "Oh."

"What's up?"

"I forgot. It's all freezed up. Completely solid 'til spring."

Sonic considered. "Ice? Solid ice?"

"Uh huh. That's why I sleep in the woods or in my secret place. Or in your plane, but on'y recently."

"Ah." Sonic looked over his shoulder. No signs of badniks. Was it possible he'd imagined them, hallucinations brought about by the stress of his fight with Robotnik?

But if that was possible, how had Tails seen them?

Sonic puzzled over this for a few minutes, then dismissed the idea, shoving the badniks to the back of his mind. Probably just a routine patrol. Yeah. Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.

Smiling at Tails, a more genuine smile this time, Sonic winked.

"Well, if it's only ice stopping you getting into your cave, I may be able to help you there."

**Okay, so that's it for this chapter (just as well since I'm on the evening shift at work and I gotta go in about ten minutes :P) Anyway, if you read, please review!**


	6. Welcome and Unwelcome Guests

**Kj: Heh, thanks; glad you liked it :P (_Sonic: Hey, c'mon, how often do you come across a flying fox?_)**

**Awdures: Thanks :) I think Sonic was wrong when he said Tails needed him more than he did Tails...**

**Shaddress: Thanks :D And sure, you go ahead and use it as a prelude if you want :D I'd be honoured!**

**Sonic-Addict: You'll find out soon enough :P**

**FriedBrickWall: Heh, no worries :D And you'll find out about the toys in this chapter ;)**

**Asher Tye: Ooh, I wonder ;) (blushes) And thanks for the kind words :D More on the way...well, right now actually ;)**

**Lewisty: (blushes) Wow, thanks. As to my becoming an author, I already am ;) I've had the odd story published in magazines and I have three sci-fi/fantasy novels placed with a literary agent who is currently seeking publication (not to mention being hard at work on a fourth and trying to negotiate novelisation rights for the movie _Equilibrium_)**

**Professor Vengeance: (blushes again) Thanks; I'm glad you're enjoying it :P**

**Niki: (happy smile) Thanks; I'm really pleased you liked it :D**

**Kirby-Chan263:D Thanks **

**Samantha27: Thanks and I agree :P As for Sonic and Tails teaming up...well, read on ;)**

**Yayness: Of course it's gonna continue; read on :P**

Very few people knew about the mountains in Emerald Hill Zone. Or to put it more accurately – since a huge mountain range isn't exactly an easy thing to miss – very few people ever bothered with them. There were bigger mountains. There were easier to climb mountains. And there were _definitely_ more accessible mountains; the Diamond Range as it was called was famous in its own way for splintered handholds, sub-zero temperatures all year round and numerous gorges and rapids that became deadly ice rinks in winter, with the occasional avalanche to break up the monotony of drowning, falling to one's death or dying of hypothermia.

It was a shame, because the Diamond Range would also have been famous for its breathtaking waterfalls, vast pine forests and herds of feral ice deer, if anyone had ever been able to make it in far enough and for long enough to actually notice any of these things.

Tails, who could fly, had noticed all three but like most people lucky enough to see extraordinary sights on an almost daily basis, had dismissed them all as ordinary.

He and Sonic were standing in front of one of these ordinary sights right now; a vast lake with a waterfall cascading down the cliff...or rather, a vast ice skating rink with an interesting and rather dribbly shaped ice sculpture up one cliff.

Sonic put one foot on the ice, then drew it back. He was already regretting his promise to help Tails break through the waterfall into his cave. Suppose the ice gave way under his weight? Suppose the friction of his spinning sliced or melted it and it dumped him into the water? Sonic could imagine only too well how that would feel, clawing at an invisible barrier, trying to breathe and cough out water in your lungs only to fill them with more water...nuh uh, not him. No way.

"It's okay, Sonic," Tails offered, "the cave's real big. You don't gotta worry 'bout missing it an' smashing into the rock wall instead."

"I wasn't," answered Sonic, who hadn't been until Tails had mentioned it, "but I was...are you sure this ice is gonna hold?"

"Oh sure. See?" To demonstrate, Tails skated out into the middle of the lake and proceeded to bounce up and down on it vigorously. "It's solid, Sonic, you're fine. If you're not, I c'n get you out."

"You promise?" Sonic hated saying those words, hated how vulnerable they made him feel – and he was trying to get a promise out of a four year old, for goodness' sake! – but he needed to hear them, needed them to be said.

"Sure I promise. Jus' spin right at that big waterfall, you can't miss it."

That much at least was true, if the ice held out, Sonic allowed. That was the only good thing to have come of the whole Robotnik mess; his spin attacks and feats of agility were now performed with pinpoint accuracy. Taking a deep breath, he stepped onto the ice.

He was never quite sure what happened next. All he knew was that it was very fast, very cold and ended up with him buried in a snowdrift on the opposite side of the lake.

Emerging, spitting snow out of his mouth, he turned to see Tails laughing so hard he couldn't stand upright. Looking back, Sonic saw his own somewhat erratic path across the ice and into the snow and put two and two together, a gleam appearing in his eyes as he caught sight of the giggling fox cub. So Tails thought he could laugh at him, did he? Well, he'd show him. Time that kid learned a little respect for his elders.

Tails, in the meantime, had just about managed to get enough control over himself to start to turn around and say, "Boy Sonic, you sure looked funny," when a snowball hit him in the back of the head. Yelping loudly, he spun around to see Sonic standing there with his hands behind his back trying to whistle innocently. For a minute, Tails was unnerved – did Sonic really want to play with him or had the hedgehog just pretended to like him all this time like some of the other kids did – then Sonic caught his eye and winked.

Still full of trepidation – throwing a snowball at someone as cool as Sonic the hedgehog was tantamount to sacrilege in Tails' young lexicon – he caught up a handful of snow and threw it halfheartedly at Sonic, who yawned as the missile fell short.

"You're gonna have to be quicker than that, kiddo," he said lightly. "Except...oh, right, I forgot. I'm only the fastest thing on the _planet_."

Tails, misinterpreting this as Sonic making fun of him for not being as fast as him, was crushed, the feeling of betrayal so great it was physically painful. Why had he ever believed Sonic? _Why_? He thought he'd learned his lesson the last time Caud and the others had played this trick on him, but it seemed like he hadn't. Turning, he started to race away but slipped on the ice and went right backwards, crashing onto his head and yelping loudly at the pain.

"Tails?" Sonic arrived next to the fox and put a hand on his shoulder. "Tails, you okay?"

Instinctively Tails looked up ahead – whenever any of the other cool kids held him like this, it was only for another to throw things at him or kick sand in his face – but they were still alone.

"C'mere kiddo," Sonic said softly, "let me take a look at that."

"_No_!" Tails shoved at Sonic as hard as he could, but failed to break free. Did the hedgehog think he was really that dumb, to be caught by the same trick twice? Nuh uh! Sonic had betrayed him, had pretended to be his friend and then laughed at him and there was no _way_ he was gonna forgive that, not never!

"Tails. _Tails_." Sonic gave up and waited for the little fox to calm down, or at the very least, tire himself out. Eventually Tails stopped thrashing, although he turned his back on Sonic, ears flat against his skull. Hating himself for it – he usually waited until he was alone – but having no choice, he buried his face in his hands and sobbed his heart out.

Sonic continued staring at Tails, for once at a complete loss. His first natural instinct was to hug the fox tightly, attempt to comfort him, but Tails had turned on him so suddenly that Sonic honestly wasn't sure if doing so wouldn't cost him a few pints of blood, not to mention considerable pain.

"Tails—" he started.

"Piss off, Sonic!" The words were shocking enough to Sonic – who had never been told to piss off in his entire life – but to hear them come out the mouth of a four year old was even worse. Swallowing, the hedgehog tried again.

"Tails, please talk to me. What did I do?"

The fox spun around, glowering at Sonic and the hedgehog was taken aback by the pain and hatred in those large blue eyes.

"You _know_ what you did!" Tails shrieked at him. "You _know_, you...you..." His vocabulary failed him at this point, which probably wasn't a bad thing and he twisted away. "I shoulda _known_ I couldn't trust you," Sonic managed to discern through the wails. Reaching out, he tried to take Tails' hand, but the fox – who had really lost control by then – turned and sank his teeth into Sonic's hand.

Sonic didn't move, didn't react, didn't give any sign that he'd even felt it, but just kept regarding Tails steadily, mind working frantically behind those calm green eyes.

"Is this because I threw the snowball at you?" he asked quietly.

A muffled shriek of frustration and increase in biting pressure was the only answer; Tails seemed furious that Sonic wouldn't let go of his hand, wouldn't leave him alone. Sonic on the other hand, who was still utterly clueless about what had sparked such a reaction off, felt instinctively that leaving Tails alone would be the worst thing he could do.

After what seemed like hours (and if the darkening of the sky was anything to go by, probably _was_) Tails' bite slackened a little, although he didn't release his jaws entirely.

"Are you going to talk to me now?" Sonic asked him very quietly.

The answer was extremely muffled and the hedgehog smiled slightly.

"It's no good, Tails, you're gonna have to take my hand out of your mouth if you want me to understand you."

An equally muffled growl and increase in pressure was his only response to that and Sonic shrugged. "Fine. You want to chew on me some more, go ahead. But I'll tell you this here and now; I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what I did to upset you this badly. Because whatever it was, I swear I didn't mean it."

Tails took his now bloody mouth away from Sonic's equally bloody hand long enough to say, "You meant it. You know you did."

"I didn't mean it to upset you like this." Emboldened, Sonic reached out and ran one hand over the fox's fur. He felt Tails shrink away from him, felt the cringing submission and hated it but kept going, partly to try and soothe the fox and partly to try and get some warmth into him.

Tails glanced down. This time Sonic felt a small lick on his bleeding hand.

"It's okay, kiddo," he said quietly, interpreting the tacit apology for what it was, "but we still gotta sort this out. Tell me what's wrong. I won't get mad or laugh at you, just talk to me."

Tails looked away again, ears flat.

"You're jus' like _them_," Sonic heard him mumble and took a long, deep breath. It had been a hell of a lot to go through for just four words.

"How am I just like all them?"

"You jus' _are_!" Tails burst out, with the finality of one finishing an argument and tried to get to his feet. Grabbing his arms, Sonic held him firmly in place.

"Have I called you a freak? Smashed your toys? Thrown you out, beaten you up, kicked sand in your face?" When Tails shook his head to each of these, Sonic persisted, "Then how am I like them?"

"They used to do all that too. Pretend we were friends, lemme play with 'em an' then after a couple days they'd say that they were on'y pretending, that they didn't want anything to do with a freak like me an' I had to be real dumb if I thought they did."

"They used to do that to you?" Sonic was shocked, really shocked. "Just...lead you on and then dump you for the hell of it?"

"You should know, Sonic; _you_ did it jus' then."

"How?" Sonic racked his brains frantically. Had it been that damn snowball? But how could Tails have interpreted that as Sonic dumping him?

Tails turned a look of miserable betrayal on Sonic, angry tears still sparkling in his eyes.

"It's not _my_ fault I can't run as fast as you can!"

"What?" Sonic said, bewildered. "I never said it...oh." Memory surfaced and he reached out to stroke the fur on the back of Tails' head. "Oh, I see. You thought I was making fun of you."

"An' you _were_!"

"No. No I wasn't, kiddo, I swear. I'm not like that. I was just...well, that's like my way of playing."

Tails sniffed but didn't resist when Sonic gathered him up into his arms and hugged him.

"'S a dumb game then," he mumbled.

Sonic smiled slightly. "Yeah? I seem to remember a certain young fox who's not a million miles away from me pounce attacking a complete stranger in the head."

"Uh..." Tails pretended to consider, then looked up at Sonic. "Maybe that was some other fox," he suggested brightly.

Sonic laughed, more through relief than anything. "Nuh uh—"

"Yuh huh!"

"Nuh uh; this little fox had two tails." Sonic started to add, _and there aren't many foxes around like that_, then stopped as he realised that Tails might well take this the wrong way.

Tails headbutted Sonic in the chest, but it was a playful act rather than a hostile one.

"Yeah, 'cause his mean – hedgehog – buddy—" he punctuated each word with another headbutt— "wouldn't – make – him – normal!"

The grin disappeared off Sonic's face. "You _are_ normal, Tails. And no, I won't mutilate you by cutting off one of your tails, so stop asking." He shook his head. "If I had Caud and his buddies in front of me right now, I'd wring their damn necks."

"But they'd never play with me then," Tails pointed out.

"Tails, be honest; do you _really_ want to play with guys like that?"

Tails gave Sonic a look that suggested he thought the hedgehog was several cans short of a six pack, then said, "Of _course_ not. But Sonic, they're the on'y kids round here an' they're closest to my age so I gotta take what I can get."

Sonic shook his head. "_Why_?"

"'Cause...well, it gets real lonesome by myself. I c'n pounce attack people an' sometimes they play along an' chase me, but mostly they jus' yell an' throw things an' that's no fun 'cause if those things hit you it hurts."

Sonic didn't answer. He had a nasty suspicion that the ones who chased Tails weren't doing it in fun, but he kept quiet. Let Tails believe what he wanted if it made it easier to bear.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"You gonna get into my cave now?"

Sonic glanced down at the little fox and smiled slightly. "Sure." Getting to his feet, he placed Tails safely out of harm's way, then curled over into a spin attack. He'd never ploughed through ice before and hoped devoutly that it would be easier than a metal bot.

It was, in fact, so much easier that Sonic had burrowed through the ice and ten feet into the opposite rock wall before he managed to stop.

"_Wow_!" Sonic barely had time to register Tails' arrival before the fox was standing in front of him, looking up adoringly. "That was _so cool_! Wish I coulda seen you do it to a bot!"

"No you don't," Sonic said tonelessly. _Or at the very least, I don't_, he added in the privacy of his own mind. He would be quite happy and content if he never saw or heard about Dr Robotnik ever again.

"I do, honest." Tails sighed. "No such luck though, 'less you wanna go out an' whump them buzz bombs?" He let the sentence trail off hopefully.

"Tails, I am not going out searching for trouble just to provide you with a show!" Sonic took one or two deep breaths in order to calm down (and to try and dispel some of the images of his last fight) then said, "So this is your cave, huh?"

"Yeah!" Distracted just like the hedgehog had hoped, Tails scampered into the cave. "Come see!"

Sonic, who had been prepared for a dank, smelly hole hardly big enough for one of them, never mind two, was pleasantly surprised to find himself in a large cave that was roomy enough for a few pieces of furniture; Tails had acquired a small table and two large dining chairs from somewhere, and a pillow had been placed in the corner.

Following the hedgehog's gaze, Tails beamed proudly.

"I made that myself."

"Did you?" The impressed note in Sonic's voice wasn't entirely feigned.

"Uh huh. Got some castaway clothes an' stuck up the holes with sap an' stuffed grass inside. I don't mind being cold but the rock's so hard I can't sleep. I used to sleep on the table, but then my fur got all sticky. An' the table took me a whole day an' some of the night to drag in, but I managed it."

Sonic glanced at him, frowning slightly. "You could've hurt yourself."

"Oh, I know. That's why it took so long; I'd drag it a foot or two feet an' then pause for a rest, then drag it another couple of feet an' pause, then drag it—"

"I get the picture."

"It was worth it when I got it in though. You gotta have a table in a home, Sonic." Tails scratched his head. "Though I'm not sure _why_..."

He probably wasn't at that, Sonic thought. What use did a four year old really have for eating off the table? Hell, if you were pointing fingers, what use did Sonic himself have for it?

It seemed to have some purpose, though, since there was a strange little contraption on top of it, one which seemed to be part arms, part legs and mostly spikes, as though someone had attached limbs to a particularly deadly jack. Curious, Sonic picked it up. "What's this?"

"Ahh..." Tails froze rigid, then rubbed the back of his neck. "Jus' a toy I made outta some junk people threw away. Don't smash it, Sonic, please don't. It's the on'y one I got."

"I'm not gonna smash it," Sonic said calmly, replacing the toy in its original position. "I was just curious, that's all. What kinda toy is it?"

"Jus'...jus'...something. It was gonna be—" Tails broke off abruptly, embarrassed.

"Gonna be what?"

"Erm..." Tails rubbed the back of his neck again. "Promise you won't get mad or laugh?"

"Sure, I promise."

"It was...well, it was gonna be a sonicactionfigurebutirunouttabluepaint," Tails said in a rush, then went crimson. Had he really just said that out loud?

There was a brief pause which Sonic used to replay the sentence in his mind and insert the appropriate spaces, then his mind nearly blew up.

"It was going to be a _what_?" he said incredulously.

Tails shifted his weight. "I know it's not a good one, it doesn't look much like you, but...well, all the other kids have 'em an' they were making fun a me an' I thought mebbe I could make my own 'cause I'm good at that kinda stuff on'y I couldn't find any blue paint so I added wings an' turned it into a super-cool Sonic fighter ship but..." His voice trailed away, more through lack of oxygen than anything else, and he took a long, deep breath. "You're mad at me, aren't you?"

"I'm not sure how I feel, to tell you the truth. It's not every day you learn you're an action figure."

Tails sat down abruptly, hugging his knees to him.

"It didn't make any difference anyhow," Sonic heard him mumble. "The other kids still wouldn't lemme play with 'em."

"There are _other_ action figures?" Sonic said slowly. He was having difficulty coming to terms with this. "Of _me_?"

Tails nodded vigorously. "Uh huh. You and ol' Robotnik. An' loadsa mini-bots too for you to squish!"

"Just...hold it." Sonic held up both hands and took half a step back. "Back up. I'm an _action figure_?"

"Well, _you're_ not, but there're loadsa action figures of you! I heard one guy telling the other that his dad had heard from a friend of a cashier who works in a toyshop that they couldn't get 'em in fast enough. They were _always_ sold out. You can get little play maps of the Zones as well an' re'nact all your cool battles!"

"_My_ cool battles?" Sonic felt as if his brain had been dunked in a tub of ice water.

"Yeah! There's Green Hill an' Bridge an' Jungle an'...hang on." Tails raced over to a pile of leaves and extracted a battered catalogue, which he handed to Sonic proudly.

It was only the evident fact that Tails loved this catalogue so much which kept Sonic from snatching it from him and racing through the pages at top speed.

"Page three one seven," Tails supplied helpfully. "An' three one eight, three one nine, three two oh...hmm, actually I think you go all the way up to three two six."

Sonic flipped to the page, then stared. Turning over a couple of pages, he saw it only got worse.

"Tails, this is ridiculous! I don't go around on a motorcycle with wings!"

"Well, they must've seen something 'cause they wouldn't be allowed to make it if it wasn't real, right Sonic?" Tails perked up his ears. "An' that reminds me, I heard some really cool news about you!"

"Let me guess," Sonic said bitterly. "I'm going to be a hot air balloon or a giant talking plush toy."

"You already are a giant talking plush toy." Taking the catalogue back from Sonic, Tails flipped carefully through it and then turned it round to show him. "See? Right here on page three two four. Nineteen and a half Mobiums, free delivery in Gigalopolis an' surrounding zones, accessories sold separately and batteries not included."

The hedgehog gave it a cursory glance, then dropped his head into his hands.

"Oh man, why me? I didn't ask for any of this, Tails, so why me?"

Tails frowned, perplexed. He was very intelligent for his age, but abstract reasoning and the concept of romanticisation of a local hero to cash in on the mega Mobiums was asking a lot of any four year old.

"Maybe they thought you'd like it," he ventured.

"They were damn well wrong then, weren't they! Nobody ever asked _my_ opinion on any of these!"

Tails, who felt that Sonic expected him to contribute something wise and grown up to the conversation, racked his brains furiously before finally coming up with, "Bummer."

Sonic threw him a look, then turned away. Surprised, hurt and feeling that somehow all this was his fault (although he didn't understand why Sonic was mad) Tails cast around for some way to make amends.

"About that really cool news..." he began.

Sonic shot him a withering look. "Go on. What are they going to turn me into this time?"

"A video game!"

"A _what_?"

Sensing that this news had failed to cheer Sonic up, Tails backpedalled frantically. "Well, maybe not an actual video game, I jus' heard that someone said that they'd been told by another guy that...well...there might be a video game?"

"Might?"

"Um. No. There's gonna be one released this summer." Tails looked down at his toes. "They're...they're gonna call it _Sonic the Hedgehog Kicks Butt on Evil Dictator Dr Robotnik_. Though I think they're thinking of just shortening it to _Sonic the Hedgehog_."

"A video game about a fast blue hedgehog smashing robots?" Sonic said acerbically. "Hah. It'll never catch on."

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"Did I do something bad?" When Sonic looked startled, Tails rushed on. "On'y you're acting all weird an' junk an' you look like you're mad at me an'...an' I don't want you to be mad at me, Sonic."

Sonic forced a smile. "No, little buddy, I'm not mad at you. It's just...a shock."

Tails flattened his ears shyly. "Uh. Sonic? You think that maybe you, uh, maybe you wanna sleep over with me? It's okay if you don't, honest it is, but...well...do you?"

Sonic opened his mouth to make some kind of gentle refusal and then caught sight of the kid's hopeful blue eyes and couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Yeah. Yeah, that'd be great." He summoned up a grin he didn't think he had in him and added, "Man, I can't remember the last time I went to a sleepover."

"Great!" Tails grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the makeshift bed. "You c'n sleep here!"

Sonic raised his eye ridges. "Yeah? So where are you gonna sleep?"

"Uh..." Tails looked around. "I'll go on the table."

"I thought you said it made your fur sticky."

"It does but it's okay 'cause I can wash in a stream. Or...or mebbe we could...nah."

"What?"

"Well..." Tails rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and shuffled his feet. "I was kinda thinking that maybe you could sleep on the bed an' I could, uh, mebbe I could sleep...next to you?" He flushed bright red and dropped his gaze, ears flat against his head in embarrassment.

Sonic quirked an eye ridge at him. "Now _that_ sounds like a plan." Crossing over, he lay down on the 'bed' next to the wall in order to let Tails have the bulk of the mattress, then stretched out an arm. "C'mere squirt."

He regretted his choice of words a second later, as Tails raced across the cave and landed squarely on Sonic's stomach.

"Pounce—"

"—attack," Sonic finished with him, grinning wryly. "Yeah, I know." He glanced down at Tails' bare feet, wondering as he did so why on Mobius he hadn't noticed this before. "Don't you have any shoes?"

Tails shook his head, fixing Sonic with a solemn look. "Uh uh. I had some once but I didn't have time to get 'em when they threw me out. They threw my shoes out a couple months later but they were too small."

"No shoes, no gloves..." Sonic shook his head. "Guess we're gonna have to go shopping tomorrow, huh?"

The fox's high pitched yip of delight went through Sonic's head like a nail file, but there was no mistaking the enthusiasm in the kid's hug, one which almost squeezed the air out of Sonic's lungs.

"Uff. Okay. Okay. But tomorrow." Sonic returned the hug, albeit a lot more gently. "Go on, get some sleep."

"How'm I s'posed to sleep _now_?" Tails demanded, sitting up and bouncing on the spot. Catching hold of him before the fox's bounces took him onto Sonic's ribs, the hedgehog pulled Tails down to ground level again.

"Look at it this way. The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner it'll be morning."

Tails' eyes lit up and he leapt off, curling into a tight ball with both namesakes wrapped around him for extra warmth and shut his eyes tightly. Sonic smirked. Classic. Thank goodness for childish logic.

The hedgehog closed his own eyes. He never slept well anymore, not since Robotnik, but he was tired enough to drop off almost immediately.

When he woke up, it was pitch black outside and for a long moment he didn't know where he was, then he remembered and frowned. What had woken him up? Like many people in similar situations, Sonic's sense of hearing had become extremely selective; ie, he'd sleep through a thunderstorm or earthquake and snap awake at the barest whine of a robot's motor. It hadn't been a nightmare, _for once_, he added mentally. That was one of the best things about Tails; the kid was so exhausting to be around that at the end of the day Sonic just collapsed and went out like a light, too tired to dream.

There! He sensed more than heard the whine of robotics and stiffened, fear freezing him to the spot. Oh hell. Not again. Not here. Please, not here.

Lights flickered on in the darkness, lights that pierced the night and the gloom of the cave but which were at the wrong angle to pick up on the cave's occupants. Sonic could dimly make out the shape of the bots behind, at least, enough of it to know that he'd never encountered one like it before. As he watched, it turned and made its way into the forest and the hedgehog let out a silent breath of both fear and relief.

"Tails." Reaching down, Sonic shook the fox as gently as he could. "Tails, c'mon, wake up."

Tails jerked awake with a start. "Huh? Whassgoinon?"

"Hush up." Sonic's voice was so quiet he himself could barely hear it, and he clamped a hand over Tails' mouth.

"Bt Fonic—"

"I said hush up!" Fear made Sonic's voice sharper than he'd intended and he winced and lowered it immediately. He didn't know what kind of sensors these robots were fitted with and he didn't plan on finding out the hard way either. "We got trouble."

Tails wrestled Sonic's hand away with a gargantuan effort, worked his jaw a couple of times and then said, "Is it...?"

Sonic moistened his lips. "It is." He wished more than anything he didn't have to say those words, that he could just curl up in a ball and pretend he hadn't seen the bots or that he didn't understand what their presence meant. But there was no doubt about it.

Robotnik was back.

**Okay...now the game starts in earnest ;) Sort of :P Hope you enjoyed it and if you read, please review!**


	7. Emerald Hill Zone

**Awdures: (blushes) Thanks :D I love writing about the Zones :P**

**Kj: Yes, we shall indeed :P Sorta ;)**

**Taryn Wander'r: Thanks, glad you're still enjoying it :D**

**FriedBrickWall: Ah...you'll find out about Tails' shopping in good time ;)**

**Poridet: (blushes again) Wow...thanks :D Well-planned...erm...well, I'm glad you think so at any rate ;) As for what Sonic would think...hmm...probably brain seizure at his age in this fic and 'Wow, COOL' at his age in my later fics :P I can see Knuckles demanding royalties for _Sonic 3_ though...**

**SonicRules12: Thanks :) Fearsome bite...much as Tails would probably like to think so, I think you read a little too much into that one :P It was hard enough to draw blood, but not hard enough to do any real damage. For the rest of it, Sonic _was_ shocked (and that was mentioned in the previous chapter) but shocked doesn't mean the same thing as angry. And don't forget, he already knows what Tails is like and knows about his impulsiveness ;)**

**Asher Tye: Heh, yep, looks that way :P Glad you like the Sonic/Tails stuff too ;)**

**Lewisty: (blushes) Thanks...fingers crossed ;) Trouble is that sci-fi/fantasy is a very hard sell to publishers these days since they're only interested in big bucks (ie, stories that can easily be translated into movies with as little CGI as possible) but I still have hope :P**

**Kirby-Chan263: (grins) Thanks :P**

**Shadow-spawn180: (blushes) Thanks :D As for the rest...well, I replied privately to you on that score ;) And is this update soon enough for you:P**

**Flyboy-Fox: (happy smile) Thanks, glad you're enjoying it :P**

**Sonic-Addict: (_Sonic: You're telling me!_) Heh...yep, I think it hurt ;) As for the rest...wait and see :P**

**I wanna fly high: (grins) Thanks for the review; glad you like it :D**

**Matt Lans: Yeah, it does, doesn't it:D**

**Angelus2040: Thanks :) Sonic 3 with Sonic and Knuckles...to be honest I hadn't got that far. Maybe, maybe not...I'll work that out a little nearer the time ;)**

**Yayness: (blushes) Thanks, I'll try**

**Tydian: (blinks) Someone told you? Ah well, glad they were right and you're enjoying it :D**

"Of all the cheap, worthless, lousy mail-order—!" Sonic's voice trailed off as he fumbled for more insults – or at least, insults that he wouldn't mind Tails repeating – and drew a blank, so he settled for kicking the Tornado as hard as he could.

Great. Now he had a sore foot to add to his troubles.

He'd been working hard on the plane for three full hours now, rewiring bits here, connecting and repairing bits there and when this failed to work, drop-kicking these same bits everywhere.

Tails, who had been walking around the beach for some time now (backwards and sideways as well as forwards) to admire the footprints his new sneakers made and on occasion just to admire his new sneakers, ducked as a metal component flew over his head and into the water with a _kerplunk_, then he broke into a run, racing around and around the cove in an ever narrowing spiral. He stopped on the fourth circuit, but only because he'd crashed into Sonic. The hedgehog, whose temper was already frayed into shreds, opened his mouth to make some stinging retort but Tails pre-empted him – perhaps intentionally – by throwing both arms around Sonic's neck and squeezing so tightly he cut off the hedgehog's air supply.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou_thankyou_! You're the bestest bestest _bestest _hedgehog buddy a guy could ever ask for!"

Holding him off enough to breathe, Sonic quirked an eye ridge at him and said, "So I guess you like your new sneakers, huh?"

"Boy, do I ever!" Tails looked down at the red and white sneakers proudly. He'd wanted a pair exactly like Sonic's, but the store hadn't sold them (although if what he'd seen so far was anything to go by, Sonic thought sourly, it was probably only a matter of time) and so they'd had to make do with a more squarish design which had been the only style in red and white – Tails had been adamant that if he couldn't have the same style as Sonic, he was at least going to have the same colours – that fitted the fox. "You didn't have to buy me the socks too though."

"Trust me, kiddo, I did. Shoes without socks can be a little uncomfortable. And you're welcome."

Tails examined his fingers critically. "Jus' need the gloves now an' I'll be finished!"

"Gloves, huh?" Sonic smirked. "Well, if you don't mind second-hand—"

Tails giggled. "I already have a second hand, Sonic, you _know_ that." He squinted at both his hands. "Though I dunno which one's my second one. Or do you mean like on a watch?"

Sonic shook his head wryly, mentally retuning his brain to Radio Tails. "I meant, if you don't mind gloves that someone's owned before you."

"But everyone's owned stuff before me," Tails said reasonably. "The guy in the shop owned these sneakers before you bought them—did I thank you for that?"

"Only about a zillion times," Sonic said lightly, grinning at the little fox.

"Oh...okay. But anyway, the guy in the shop owned my sneakers before you bought them, so they're a second hand too, right?"

"Well, he didn't _own_ them exactly—"

"Huh?" Bewildered and slightly worried, Tails looked up at Sonic. "So how could he sell them if he didn't own them? Did he steal them?"

"No, kiddo, but...well..." Sonic abandoned this explanation and went for a simpler one instead. "Second-hand means something that someone's bought before."

Tails frowned perplexedly. "But he musta bought them from somewhere so's he could sell them. Or did he make them?"

"Yeah." Sonic seized this with a strong sense of relief. "Yeah, he probably did."

"Oh." Tails' frown deepened. "But he musta bought the stuff to make 'em with, so that means he bought the sneakers too, right?"

"It...no, it...well, buying the materials doesn't always equal buying the object."

"But if I bought a bun an' a packet of currants an' some glue an' stuck the currants on the bun to make myself a currant bun that'd be jus' the same as if I'd bought a currant bun in the firs' place, wouldn't it?"

Sonic abandoned this explanation as well, settling for saying, "Getting back to the subject of gloves—"

"Yeah?" Tails looked up at him eagerly and Sonic vanished into the cockpit for a few minutes before pulling out a pair of his old ones. They no longer fitted him as well as they had before – Sonic liked his gloves roomy – but they'd do for Tails.

"Here."

Tails stared at them as though they were a priceless set of jewels, then looked up at Sonic again.

"Are these the ones you were wearing when you whumped Robotnik?"

Sonic, who wished that Tails wouldn't keep referring to the incidents between him and Robotnik in such enthusiastic tones, winked.

"They may very well be."

"_Cool_!" Tails pulled them on, stood up and then crumpled in disappointment as both gloves slithered neatly off his hands and onto the sand. Sonic shook his head.

"I don't know. What am I gonna do with you, kiddo?" Leaping into the cockpit, he rummaged around for a few minutes before retrieving a pair of black straps, a memento of his first pair of sneakers. Jumping down to land neatly next to Tails again, he helped the fox on with his gloves and fastened them in place with the straps.

"How's that?" he asked.

Tails wiggled his hands experimentally and beamed as the gloves stayed firmly in place.

"Great!"

"Good." Feeling embarrassed by the naked adoration in the fox's gaze, Sonic ducked into the plane again rather hastily and resumed tinkering. This time when he touched the wires together, the engine coughed into life. Emerging again, Sonic jammed his hands on his hips and glowered at it. "Oh sure, _now_ it works! Where were you when I was a couple thousand feet up, huh?"

Actually, the engine was far from perfect; there was still that annoying clunk in the background. Well, he didn't plan on going far with it, just far enough to get the hell off Westside Island. One single-handed battle against Robotnik had been one too many, and he didn't fancy taking the doctor on a second time.

And he was taking Tails with him. He should be able to find some family far away from Westside Island who'd take the little fox in; Sonic had no intentions of keeping the kid with him permanently, but he couldn't very well leave him to Robotnik's tender mercies.

A small hand snuck into Sonic's and Tails pulled the hedgehog's arm around his shoulders, leaning against Sonic's leg trustingly and closing his eyes.

"You should get some rest," Sonic told Tails, who shrugged.

"'M okay."

"You can barely keep your eyes open, kiddo. Go on, go to sleep."

Tails dragged his eyes open to look into the sizeable hole in the side of the Tornado that Sonic had excavated in an attempt to repair.

"C'n I try fixing it?" the fox asked.

The words _Not a chance_ screamed up Sonic's throat, then evaporated. What the hell; Tails could hardly make it worse.

"Okay. But be careful."

Tails looked at Sonic's toolkit, and the hedgehog was amused to see the little fox pretending to consider the best tool with a suitable air of gravity, then he picked up a spanner and crawled into the hole.

Instead of the banging (and occasional profanity) that had come from the hole when Sonic had been working on it, this time there was only the sound of screws being either tightened or loosened and other things being tapped. Eventually Tails reached up to the wires Sonic had been using to test the engine and sparked them together. This time the engine purred into life as though it had just left the shop.

Sonic stared slack-jawed as Tails emerged, put the spanner in the hedgehog's unresisting hand and clambered up to crawl back to the passenger seat.

"Hold up," Sonic said suddenly and scrambled after him, sitting back on the wing. "What...how...what'd you do?"

A shrug.

"You fixed it?"

Tails shrugged again, then nodded.

"How'd..." Sonic shook his head. "Who taught you how to fix machinery like that?"

Another shrug.

"What, you just look at it and do it?"

Nod.

"That's amazing!"

Shrug. Huge yawn.

The hedgehog shook his head again, picking up the blanket Tails had fallen in love with and which Sonic was already resigned to losing permanently to the little fox. "C'mon. Let's get you to sleep."

"_Not_ sleepy," Tails protested, around another huge yawn.

"Uh huh. Right. Go on, squirt, get some rest. I won't go anywhere without you."

"Not gonna sleep," Tails mumbled, although he was already halfway gone and didn't even notice when Sonic left.

The hiss of a welding torch woke the fox just before dawn and he peered over the edge to see Sonic there, busy reattaching the Tornado's body part to the plane. Sensing the fox's eyes, he glanced up and smiled briefly, then returned to his work.

Leaping over the edge of the plane and flying to the ground, Tails came to watch Sonic curiously.

"What're you doing?"

"Trying to fix this so we can leave," Sonic said a little curtly – the repairs had been giving him hell and at one point he'd seriously considered waking Tails up to help – then glanced down at Tails. "I thought you were asleep."

"I was but now I'm not." Tails hopped from one foot to the other, trying to get some warmth into his muscles. "Are you gonna go whump ol' Robotnik in your plane?" he asked eagerly.

"No I'm not," Sonic snapped. "I'm going to take my plane and get as far away from _ol' Robotnik_ as I possibly can!"

Tails deflated rapidly and stopped hopping, staring at Sonic with huge eyes.

"B-but...you're _Sonic the hedgehog_! You _gotta_ whump Robotnik, it's what you _do_. You done it ever since he first showed up. Where'd he come from anyway, Sonic?"

"No idea," Sonic lied, after a second's hesitation.

"You can't go, Sonic!" Tails leapt down to stand between Sonic and the Tornado, arms outstretched very much in the manner of Horatius defending the bridge. "You can't go an' 'bandon everyone here to Robotnik! You can't 'bandon _me_, Sonic! I thought we were friends!"

"We are friends—"

"Nuh uh! Friends don't walk out on friends!"

Sonic hesitated, then sighed and dropped to one knee, putting himself on an eye level with the little fox. "Kiddo, I'm not abandoning you. I was gonna take you with me, if you wanted to come."

Temptation flickered across Tails' face before he said stubbornly, "On'y if you're gonna go whump Robotnik."

"Stop saying that!" Sonic surged to his feet and whirled, pacing the sand so fast he stirred up clouds of it and only stopped when Tails started to cough violently.

"You gotta," the fox said again as soon as he could speak. "It's what you _do_. I know he'll prob'ly have learned from last time an' built bigger an' worser robots an' prob'ly put loads more traps in—"

"_So_ not helping," Sonic informed him through clenched teeth.

"—but I know you can beat him jus' like you did before, Sonic. An' I'll be with you to help—"

_That_ got Sonic's attention. "No! No, no, no, no, _no_! I'll take you off Westside Island, Tails, I'll get you out of this mess, sure. But I am _not_ going into another war against Robotnik and if I was, I wouldn't take you with me."

Tails' ears drooped. "But I thought you liked me, Sonic."

"I do like you, Tails. I like you a lot, and that's why I'm not going to put you in danger."

"I won't be in danger. I'll be with _you_. 'Sides, I know this Zone real well, Sonic, so if ol' Robotnik tries to find us, we c'n hide from him easy. I got my secret place."

"Unless it's in another dimension, kiddo, I doubt it'd work." Sonic considered, his mention of another dimension sparking something in his mind. Maybe the Special Zone...no. No, it had damn near driven him nuts the last times he'd visited. He didn't much like the idea of taking Tails with him.

"You haven't seen it," Tails retorted, then suddenly brightened. "Hey, yeah, you haven't seen it! C'mon, I'll show you!" He grabbed Sonic's hand and started tugging him along.

"Tails." Sonic caught hold of the fox and lifted him bodily into the air. "Tails, we don't have time. We have to get out and clear _now_, before it's too late."

"We can be clear in my secret place, Sonic." Tails managed to wriggle free and raced off down the beach.

Swearing under his breath, wondering how the hell he'd managed to wind up with a shadow like Tails, the hedgehog took off after him.

It took even Sonic a few minutes to find Tails, largely because the thick forest reduced his speed drastically and also because Tails tended to squirm through tunnels too small for the hedgehog to follow. By the time he'd caught up, Tails was standing in front of a sheer cliff covered in vines.

"You made it! C'mon!" Before Sonic had time to react Tails had grabbed his arm, looped it over his shoulders and taken off, flying up the cliff face with him. Hovering in front of a particularly thick cluster of vines, he pulled them apart to reveal a niche in the rock. "Ta da!"

"That's your secret place?"

"Uh huh. I sleep here when the cave's all freezed up."

Sonic stared. "Suppose you roll off?"

"Uh..." Tails scratched his head. "I always been lucky so far. 'Sides, I'd rather roll off than have ev'ryone come waking me up all the time. It gets kinda cold at times but I'm furry so I'm okay."

Sonic glanced at him, noticing that the little fox was panting rather alarmingly. "Tails, c'mon, let's land before you drop me."

"I'm not gonna drop you!"

"No, but you can't keep me up here for much longer. I'm too heavy."

"You're not heavy, Sonic. You're jus' right. See?" In an effort to prove how heavy Sonic wasn't, he started flying higher, then darting around in all directions...or trying to, anyway. Taking one turn a little too fast, he accidentally slid out from under Sonic, dropping him the ten feet to the ground and – unexpectedly freed from the hedgehog's weight – rocketed up into the sky and almost collided with a tree. Flipping over in midair, he zoomed down to ground level, landing next to the now prostrate Sonic.

"Sonic! Sonic, are you okay? Sonic, please be okay, don't be dead, Sonic. Sonic, please jus' tell me if you're dead or not. Are you dead?"

The hedgehog shifted, mumbled something around a mouthful of earth.

"Was that a yes or a no?" Tails asked.

Sonic sat up groggily. "Anyone get the truck of that hit that numbered me?"

"What?" Tails dropped to his knees next to Sonic. "Sonic, _are_ you dead? Did I kill you?"

Sonic rubbed the back of his head. "No. Did you want to?"

"Nuh uh!" Tails bounced up and then bounced down again, this time on top of Sonic, knocking him flying. "Pounce attack!"

Sonic, whose arms had gone around the fox more for balance than anything else, rolled over with Tails squealing in delight, then caught hold of him and proceeded to—

"Hey!" Tails wriggled out of Sonic's hold. "No fair noogies, Sonic! No fair giving noogies to a nunar...an armun...a...someone who's not armed!"

"And no fair dropping hedgehogs that don't have wings either," Sonic retorted, albeit with a grin.

"I _didn't_ drop you! You musta let go!"

"Did I? Alright then." Sonic looked back up to Tails' 'secret place'. "So how'd you come across that, anyway?"

"I found it when I was playing with my rock."

"Your rock?"

"Yeah. 'Cause, see, I could never build a ball but I found a nice rock that was almost round an' so I used to play with that instead. I threw it real hard an' it didn't fall so I flew up to see why an' found it."

"And it became your secret place, did it?"

"Yup! An' nobody knows it's there 'cept for me!" Tails paused. "Well...an' you, I guess, but you won't tell anyone, will you? Huh Sonic? You won't tell anyone, right?"

"Who, me? Nah." Sonic grinned down at Tails. "Don't you worry, lil buddy; I can keep a secret." Reaching down, he took the little fox's hand. "Let's go finish the plane, huh?"

Tails' ears perked. "Yeah! An' I can finish it with you, right Sonic?"

"Sure," Sonic said easily. "C'mon."

They started down a winding path that would eventually lead them onto the beach. When they were about a hundred yards away, Tails stopped.

"Uh. Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"Not that I don't like you, 'cause I _do_..."

"Right..."

"'S jus'...well...I'm a big kid, right?"

"You say so."

"Yeah, an'...well, 'sokay back in the cave or in my secret place or by your plane but people c'n see on the beach an'...an' big kids don't hold hands, Sonic."

Sonic grinned broadly. "Oh, they don't, huh?" He shook his head. "Okay. Far be it from me to embarrass you." He let go and Tails raced happily ahead, doubling back every now and then to make sure Sonic was still following before collapsing onto an empty patch of hot sand with a contented sigh. A few seconds later, Sonic joined him.

"We gonna go after Robotnik?" Tails asked sleepily.

"No," Sonic said irritably; Tails had been asking the same question every five minutes since the Tornado had been fixed.

"Then what we gonna do? If you're not gonna fight Robotnik, what're we gonna do?"

"I fought Robotnik once, Tails, and once was more than enough. I'm in no hurry for a rematch, and neither would you be if you knew what it was really like. As for what we're going to do, we're going to get the hell off Westside Island, and get you somewhere where you'll be safe."

"Lemme ask you something," Tails said, sitting up to fix Sonic with a look. "Am I gonna be safer all on my own or with Mobius' national hero?"

"Stop calling me that! I'm nobody's hero, Tails; I'm—" Sonic broke off abruptly. He couldn't bring himself to tell Tails the truth about him and Robotnik, not because he was too concerned about his own reputation (although admittedly that did have something to do with it) but because something told him Tails would take the truth as a personal betrayal, and the poor kid had already had too much pain in his short lifespan.

"You are so," Tails said, apparently mistaking Sonic's reaction for modesty. "You're the hero of Mobius. I read it in a paper."

Sonic glanced at him. "I didn't think you could read," he said, then saw the fox's expression and realised that Tails might take this the wrong way. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I meant, well, not many four year olds can read," he finished, somewhat lamely. "At least, not much."

Tails, misinterpreting this as a compliment (although Sonic hadn't meant it that way either) beamed.

"'S true! Watch!" He extracted a piece of paper that had been worn down to the consistency and fragility of tissue, then cleared his throat. "Pow, bam, kersplat, take that," he intoned, with all the solemnity of one reading in church. Sonic laughed.

"Alright, I believe you."

"Please, Sonic, have merk...mers...mercy 'pon me," Tails continued. No longer smiling, Sonic stared.

"What?"

"You don't d'serve to live you fat bag of—hey!" Tails' recital turned into a wail of dismay as Sonic grabbed the page roughly enough to tear it almost in half and stared, scanning the contents. "So-_nic_! That was my on'y comic book page!"

"This is..." Sonic shook his head. "Dammit all to hell, Tails, that was a _war_! War isn't about entertainment! It's not supposed to be _fun_! They've taken what went on and cheapened it to make themselves a quick Mobium." He frowned, scrutinising the page more carefully. "And _please_ tell me my head isn't really twice the size of my body!"

"Your head isn't really twice the size of your body," Tails said obligingly. "C'n I have it back now before you rip it some more?" There was no obvious accusation in the words, but Sonic still flinched.

"Yeah, kiddo. Okay. I'm sorry, you just...you surprised me." He handed it back to Tails, who tried to repair the best of the damage and failed, turning a miserable look on Sonic.

"You _wrecked_ it."

"Yeah," Sonic said again. "I'm sorry; I just...never mind." He shook his head. "Tails, is there anything I _haven't_ been turned into?"

"Uh..." Tails screwed up his face in concentration. "A TV show?"

"Well, thank goodness for small favours."

"Yeah. There's gonna be a movie though! Sonic, I don't get it. Loadsa people would love to be in a movie an' be heroes like you. So how come you don't like it?"

"Because...because...I just don't, alright? And I don't want to come face to face with Robotnik again."

"Yeah?" Tails scratched his head. "Does he know you're here then? Or is he jus' here to try an' lick his wounds an' you happened to be here at the same time as what he is?"

"I..." Sonic frowned. That was a damn good question; had Robotnik come here to finish what they'd started in Green Hill Zone or had he just turned up here at random? "I don't know," he admitted, "but whichever it is, I don't like it. I don't like the fact he's here, I don't like the fact he's here with robots and I _really_ don't like the fact that most of those robots are ones I've never seen before."

"Like that one?" Tails asked, pointing. Sonic whirled to see a crab-shaped bot waddling sideways towards them and tensed.

"No. I've fought those before; you just jump on them and they'll explode."

"Yeah?" Tails looked at the robot curiously, then broke into a run. "Pounce attack!"

Sonic whirled. "Tails, _no_!"

Too late. The fox had already leapt into the air and landed squarely on the robot, hard enough to shatter its protective casing and free the animal inside.

Sonic was at his side in an instant. "Tails, are you okay?"

"Sure I'm okay, Sonic. Why wouldn't I be?" Tails looked better than okay; he was jittering on the spot as though he'd overdosed on coffee. "I smashed a bot! Didja see? I whumped one a ol' Robotnik's bots all by myself! I jus' pounce attacked it an' it went _thoom_! How come you don't go _thoom_ when I pounce attack you, Sonic?"

Sonic stared at Tails. "You..." he began weakly.

"I did it, Sonic!" Tails fixed a starry-eyed look on the hedgehog. "I did it! Didja see me?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I saw." Sonic forced himself to grin. "You did pretty good, for a beginner."

"Thanks! Can we go whump some more?"

"_No_!" Sonic said stridently, then, "I mean, uh, no. Tails, we have to get out of here."

"You mean so's we can go whump Robotnik?"

"No, I mean..." Sonic gave up. "Yeah," he lied instead.

"Okay! C'mon!" Tails grabbed Sonic and started pulling him into the forest.

The journey through Emerald Hill Zone was surprisingly uneventful, much to Tails' disappointment, although there were a few bots to smash, something Sonic felt he wouldn't mind so much if Tails didn't insist on keeping a running total.

"So that's one monkey thing for you an' none for me, three buzz bombers for me an' one for you an' I smashed that crabby thing...does that count?"

"What? Yeah, if you want," Sonic said shortly. He was in a somewhat tense frame of mind, and not least because he was losing four to one at what he perceived as his own game.

Not that bot-smashing was a game, of course. But even so...Tails wouldn't be so far ahead if those two buzz bombers hadn't arrived in such a convenient formation! Sonic had made up his mind to go for them when Tails had raced in, bounced off one onto the other and claimed both victories for himself.

The hedgehog shook himself inwardly, furious.

_This isn't a game, dammit! You're going into a battle, and going in all cocky and arrogant is a damn good way to get yourself killed! Snap out of it!_

"Sonic?" Tails said. "Sonic, what's that?"

Glad of a diversion, the hedgehog followed the fox's pointing finger to a post with a star on top and shuddered.

"It's a Star Post."

"What's a Star Post? An' what happens if I do this to it?"

Before Sonic had a chance to answer, Tails had taken off and reached out with one small fist to bop the Star Post as hard as he could, sending the top half in a complete revolution. There was a sound like someone tearing velvet and a ring of stars appeared above the Post. Inside was what looked like a black tunnel through rings of golden light.

Sonic groaned. He'd suspected all along it would come to this, if Robotnik was back.

"Hold on." He jumped, and only really remembered he should have ordered Tails to stay back when the fox leapt after him and collided with Sonic, sending him ricocheting off two separate walls. There was a sensation of powerful wind, almost tornado force, and the pair of them were sucked (blown? Sonic didn't know how to describe it other than it was fast and far too strong to even think of resisting) until the rings became a blur.

"What _is_ this place?" Tails yelped over the rushing wind.

"The Special Zone," Sonic shouted back. "Hang on; it's gonna get rougher!"

Tails seized Sonic's arm tightly, squeezing his eyes shut as the warp abruptly ended, depositing them squarely in what looked like a tube.

"Sonic, what's this? What—" Tails yelped in surprise as his feet were carried forward.

"Just go with it," Sonic told him. "Go with it, and collect as many rings as you can!"

_Why_, Tails started to ask, but at that minute he caught sight of a row of rings on the inside and raced towards them, his natural velocity increased by the tube's movement. The rings dissolved the instant he touched them and he felt a sudden rush of warmth and happiness that seemed unconnected to anything on the outside.

Sonic, gathering himself for a jump to reach those rings on the ceiling, was considerably surprised when Tails picked that moment to wrap him in a tight hug, gazing up at him affectionately.

"Tails, _what_—oh." Memory of the first time he'd grabbed rings came to Sonic's rescue and he grinned down at the little cub. "Tails, try and keep a hold of yourself, okay? Don't give into the rings' influence, not yet."

Tails wriggled closer, knocking Sonic off balance and into one of the walls. The strange gravity in the Special Zone asserted itself and the pair of them stayed upright and – more through coincidence than anything – ploughed through another row of rings, something Sonic regretted as Tails squeezed him tightly. The rings made you feel wonderful inside, Sonic reflected, all warm and loving, but sometimes that wasn't a good thing.

"Tails, we gotta get more rings."

Tails continued gazing up at the hedgehog. "I love you, Sonic. You know that, right? You're like...like a big brother. I always wanted a big brother an' I think the star sent me you to be him."

"Yeah, Tails, that's great, but we gotta get enough rings to—"

"An' you love me too, right?"

"What?" Knocked off balance again, this time mentally, Sonic floundered. "Well...sure, I like you a lot, Tails, but I'll like you a lot _more_ if you let go and help me collect rings and don't play the lost waif card until we're out, okay?"

"Okay!" Tails raced off, grabbing another handful of rings.

Sonic had no idea how many they grabbed in the end. One hundred? One hundred and fifty? It didn't matter; at the end they managed to reach the Chaos Emerald, which was all Sonic cared about. Grabbing it before it had a chance to vanish, the next thing either of them felt was a sudden rush of wind and they reappeared next to the same Star Post they'd just left.

"Wow." Tails barely breathed the word. "What was _that_?"

"Special Zone," Sonic said, gasping for breath; he'd tried to save Tails from numerous bombs and succeeded only to get hit himself. "It changes every time you go there. I stashed the Chaos Emeralds there in case Robotnik ever fancied getting hold of them." He looked at the light blue gem he was holding with a certain amount of satisfaction. "Well, he won't get _this_ one."

"C'n I hold it?"

"Sure." Sonic passed the Emerald over to Tails, who sniffed it curiously before handing it back.

"Um. Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"I...I kinda said some dumb stuff in there, huh?" Tails shuffled his feet embarrassedly. "Sorry."

"Tails..." Sonic reached over and pulled the little fox to him in a hug. "Tails, the rings sometimes make people say or do strange things. It's not just you, kiddo."

"Yeah, but your sidekick's gotta be cool an' collected an'...an'..." Tails racked his brains for something else beginning with C, failed and settled for repeating, "cool. Yeah. He shouldn't grab you an'...an' say dumb stuff."

Sonic raised his eye ridges. "Now I have a sidekick?"

Tails flattened his ears. Oh boy. Why couldn't he stop saying exactly what he was thinking or hoping whenever Sonic was around? His private fantasy of being Sonic's sidekick and saving the hedgehog against all odds was something he hadn't wanted made public.

"Well...kinda...'cause you...well, you need someone to take you to the next Zone, right? An' through it an' onto the next an' the next 'til you whump ol' Robotnik for good."

Sonic looked down at the shyly eager fox and grinned. "Well...I guess I do need a guide."

"Cool!" Tails buried the hedgehog in a hug, then coloured and jerked away. "Uh...sorry. Guess it must be the rings again."

"I guess it must be," Sonic said, still grinning. He'd secretly been vastly touched by Tails' declarations in the Special Zone, and it took a stern inner voice to remind him not to take it as it was meant; too many rings and Sonic himself would probably have declared his love for Robotnik.

"Hey Sonic?" Tails said, as they started walking again.

"Yeah?"

Tails ducked his head shyly. "You think that...mebbe one day they'll make toys an' video games an' movies with me in?"

Sonic glanced down at him, then ruffled the fur between his ears with a grin. "Why not?"

"You think? Honest?"

Now Sonic laughed, not unkindly. "I'll tell you what, Tails. If I get any say in future merchandise, I'll make sure you're in it, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Great. So which way now?"

"Well..." Tails' ears flattened. "We're getting towards the end of the Zone, Sonic, so I guess outta Emerald Hill Zone an' into...into..." he took a wild guess— "into Mystic Cave Zone!"

The end of the Zone. Why did that send a shiver down Sonic's spine?

He got his answer a few seconds later. A rumbling noise, one he realised he'd been hearing all along, came from one of the bushes and Tails started forward eagerly.

"_No_!" Sonic grabbed the fox and yanked him back, almost off his feet. _That_ was what had been bugging him all this time. The end of the Zone...Robotnik liked to lie in wait at the end of the Zone, didn't he?

"Tails! Tails, get out the way!" Sonic said stridently.

Tails wasn't listening. He was too busy staring at what was emerging.

"What's _that_?"

"I..." Sonic wasn't sure. It looked like a drilling truck, albeit one with a circular hole in the centre. "Tails, get out of here now!"

"But this truck is really _cool_, Sonic—"

"_Now_!"

Tails considered disobeying for a second, then caught sight of the hedgehog's expression and changed his mind. Whirring both tails, he flew up into the relative shelter of a palm tree.

Sonic waited edgily, not sure what was going to happen. At the moment the truck was just sitting there, not doing anything...what was Robotnik playing at?

He got his answer a second later, when Tails suddenly yelped, "_Sonic_!" Looking up, Sonic saw a familiar flying machine – albeit one with a giant propeller on top which was a new addition – descend and lock into place in the central hole on the truck.

From inside, Robotnik fixed Sonic with a predatory grin that was laced through with anticipation.

"Long time no see, Sonic. Miss me?"

Without waiting for a reply, he threw the truck into first gear and roared towards Sonic, who leapt reflexively into the air. Executing a perfect one hundred and eighty degree turn, Robotnik laughed.

"You can't do that forever, Sonic, and I think that your body will wear out before my Eggscavator does." He drove forward, but Sonic was ready this time and dodged easily.

"Incidentally," Robotnik continued as though nothing had happened, "what do you think of the name? I chose it especially with you in mind."

From his vantage point, Tails saw Sonic falter, saw Robotnik smirking in triumph and leapt out of the tree, landing squarely on the Eggscavator with as much force as he could. The engine faltered, then cut out completely.

"What...?" Startled, no longer smirking, Robotnik turned the key furiously and Tails took advantage of his distraction to grab Sonic.

"Sonic, you can last longer'n him! He's burning the truck in first 'cause that's how he gets the accesso...alecera...that's how he goes so fast, but he can't keep doing it forever! You got him beat, Sonic, you jus' gotta keep dodging him an' whump him occasionally! Like this!" Turning, Tails raced back to the truck – which Robotnik had just got started again – and slammed down onto the hood again, knocking the engine out for a second time.

"You little—" Robotnik made a grab for Tails, but the fox was already in midair.

"Nyah, ol' Robotnik can't catch me!" Turning his head, he added in a stage whisper. "C'mon Sonic, whump him; I can't keep him busy forever."

Sonic looked somewhat dazed, as though he didn't quite grasp what was happening...an attitude that Robotnik might well have sympathised with, had he been capable of such things. Yelping in exasperation, Tails added, "C'_mon_ Sonic, like this!"

Stilling his tails, he dropped like a stone onto the truck. He'd bounced off it four consecutive times before Robotnik managed to get out of the fox's way, only to run straight into another far deadlier attack from Sonic. Driving away, the engine now making a noise not dissimilar to that of the Tornado when it had first crashed on Westside Island, Robotnik reached under the dashboard, preparing to play the last card in his hand.

A soft click, barely audible above the clattering of the engine, warned Sonic who leapt straight up into the air as the drill bit was propelled underneath him. Behind, he heard Tails yelp loudly and felt his blood run cold.

_Not him. Please, not Tails._

He looked down at the apex of his jump, straight into Robotnik's sneer and narrowed his eyes. Fine. If that was how the doctor wanted to play it, Sonic wasn't about to argue.

Spinning over and over, he dropped down hard, burrowing through metal and gears until the unmistakable sound of an explosion caused him to leap free, instinctively looking for Tails.

Something small and furry cannoned into him, seizing him under the arms and hauling him away from the damaged vehicle. In his wound up state, Sonic came within about a millimeter of kicking himself free and spindashing Tails to pieces, but at that point the fox's grip slipped and Sonic fell to the ground just in time to see Robotnik abandon the wrecked truck and take off in his flyer.

The hedgehog stared for a few seconds. "No. No, no, _no_!" He raced forward, leaping into the air in an attempt to finish Robotnik once and for all, but the flyer was already out of reach. Sonic swore viciously, then turned. "Tails! Tails, get over here! I need a lift!"

"Huh?" Startled, Tails looked up from where he'd been examining the truck curiously. "What?"

"Just—" Sonic dashed over to him and grabbed the fox's arm, looping it over his shoulders. "Fly! I need height!"

"Oh. Okay." Tails took off, beating both namesakes gamely, but even the casual observer could see that the little fox was nowhere near fast enough to catch up with Robotnik.

Seeing the doctor pulling away, Sonic cursed again. "C'mon kid, _move_ it!"

"I'm _trying_!" Tails managed to get out around gasping for breath. "Sonic...I'm real sorry but I can't go any faster!"

Sonic opened his mouth to snap that Tails would damn well _have_ to, but at that point the fox suddenly yelped and dropped like a stone, sending them both rolling over as Robotnik accelerated away over the trees.

A whimpering noise slid into Sonic's consciousness, and it took a good couple of seconds before he realised it was coming from Tails, who was clutching at one of his namesakes.

"Tails?"

The little fox gave him a pain filled glance, then returned to holding the affected tail.

"C'mon lil buddy, let me see." Sonic reached out and started massaging hard. Eventually the muscles loosened and Tails slumped back in relief.

"Sorry Sonic. Real sorry. I wanted to help but...but..."

"No, I'm sorry, kiddo. I shouldn't have lost it like that. I just thought we'd beaten Robotnik for good, and then I thought we still could if we moved fast enough—"

"But we _didn't_." Tails looked down at his namesakes morosely, playing with them. "I messed up, huh Sonic? I'm sorry, honest I am. I wanted to help you."

Sonic reached out and put a hand on Tails' shoulder. "And you did. You helped me out big time. Are you okay? The drill didn't hit you?"

Tails shook his head. "Uh uh. I was jus' scared 'cause I thought it was gonna hit _you_. Sonic, are you mad at me 'cause I couldn't get you to Robotnik?"

"Of course I'm not mad at you Tails. It's just..." Sonic hesitated.

Tails curled up into a tight ball of misery. This was it. This was where Sonic said, _it's just I can't take you _or something like that. Well, at least it wasn't 'cause Sonic didn't like him. Or...was it? Sonic must've really wanted to whump Robotnik for good, and Tails had messed that up for him.

"I'm sorry Sonic."

"Tails, it's okay." Tails felt Sonic slide an arm around his shoulders and hug him. "It wasn't your fault."

"Was too." Tails uncurled enough to pick up a rock and throw it at the dumb truck that had distracted him, and he was only slightly disappointed when the rock didn't burrow through the metal like Sonic had done, but instead ricocheted off and hit him on the ear. He felt a quiver running through Sonic's arm and looked away. "'Sokay, you c'n laugh at me. Everyone else is gonna."

"You helped me beat Robotnik, Tails. You helped me in the Special Zone. I couldn't have collected enough rings without your help. And you helped get me out the way of Robotnik's truck when it went up."

"An' dropped you," Tails mumbled, refusing to be consoled.

A grin appeared on Sonic's face. "Maybe I just let go. Maybe I liked plummeting ten feet back in the forest so much I decided to do it again."

Tails let out a small giggle. "Mebbe your arm stopped working like my tails."

"I'm not sure my arm's ever worked like your tails, Tails." This prompted another, louder giggle from the little fox and Sonic's grin broadened. "Then again, I've never tried whirling my arms around behind my butt and trying to fly with them. Maybe I should sometime, see if it works."

Tails giggled again. "You're funny, Sonic."

"Oh, I am, huh?" Catching hold of Tails, Sonic proceeded to tickle him until the fox shrieked for mercy, breathless with laughter.

"You take it back?" Sonic asked, a twinkle in his eyes.

"No!" Tails answered, pouncing on the hedgehog and attempting to tickle in retaliation. Wriggling out of the fox's determined grip long enough to get clear, Sonic curled up into a ball and waited.

He heard footsteps pad up next to him followed by someone tugging at his arm in an effort to uncurl him. Granted uncurling was a tempting prospect – something non-hedgehogs failed to take into account was that every time you curled up like this you ended up with your nose pressed firmly into your own groin – but Sonic wasn't that stupid.

He felt Tails pushing and prodding around him, trying to find a weak spot, and grinned to himself. There was no way that little fox could get inside.

Tails stopped shoving Sonic and backed up a few steps. Sonic could almost see the little fox's expression and the thought made his grin broaden. Ten to one the kid would say something now...

Someone gave him a hard shove from behind. Taken by surprise, not to mention various physical laws, Sonic rolled along the ground at a surprisingly fast pace until he hit something solid and unyielding and uncurled automatically.

"Gotcha!" Tails pounced on top of Sonic, pinning him against the object, then his jaw dropped and he backed off. "Wow. What's _that_, Sonic?"

Sonic looked around at the metallic hump with a plunger on top and took a deep breath.

"It's one of Robotnik's prisons. It's where he keeps people before he roboticises them. Hold on; one good jump on that plunger'll let 'em out." He crouched down and got ready, eyeing the distance.

"Sonic!" Tails caught hold of Sonic's arm. "Sonic, lemme do it. Please. If I save them, mebbe then they'll lemme play with 'em."

Sonic doubted that, but for Tails' sake, he hoped it was true.

_What the hell. Maybe the kid's right. Maybe they'll take him in and I can go and not worry about him anymore. A battlefield's no place for a little kid._

"Okay," he said aloud.

Tails yipped with delight and scampered over, whirring both namesakes for lift and landing squarely on top of the plunger.

The delighted look slid off the fox's face as the prison started to shudder underneath him. Sonic, who had ample experiences of Robotnik's prisons, said, "You might wanna hop off right about now."

Tails hopped off obligingly and with such alacrity that he almost flattened the hedgehog, who got out the way just in time as a crack appeared in the top of the prison, one which spread rapidly until the metal shattered under the strain.

Most of the Emerald Hill Zone residents who hadn't either escaped or been roboticised emerged, looking around in a dazed fashion. One of them, Caud, caught sight of Tails and curled his lip.

"Hey guys, check it out. Never seen the two tailed freak in this area before. Don't tell me someone's _breeding_ little runts like him."

"I bet you've never seen a blue hedgehog in this area before either," Sonic said before Tails had a chance to answer. "Are you going to call me a freak as well?"

Caud shifted his weight, not wanting to pick a fight with someone like Sonic. "Well...you're Sonic the hedgehog, aren't you? You saved Mobius, so no, you're no freak."

"So if Tails had been the one to save Mobius and I'd grown up here, I'd be the freak, is that right?"

"Duh," the jackal next to him sneered.

Sonic glanced at him. "Well, at least someone's honest about these things."

Tails jammed both small paws on his hips and glowered at the others. "Yeah! An' you're all welcome! Me an' Sonic didn't _have_ to save any of you. An' you can all just...just..." He reached inside himself for the worst, the _very_ worst retort he knew. "You can all jus' piss off an' die 'cause I'm going with Sonic! Right Sonic?"

_How_? Sonic thought wretchedly. _Oh man, how can I turn him away after that? He'd never trust anyone again._

"You bet," he said aloud. "C'mon lil buddy. Let's leave these guys to get on with their little lives. What's the nearest Zone from here?"

"Uh." Tails scratched his head, frowning. "I _think_ Hill Top. Or Chemical Plant. Or mebbe Oil Ocean."

Sonic raised his eye ridges. "You don't know, do you?"

"Well...I never been outside Emerald Hill before. I always jus' stayed in my cave." Tails' ears suddenly perked bolt upright. "The cave!"

"What about it?"

Tails scuffed a toe on the ground. "Sonic? Sonic, c'n we go get my toy before we leave? Please?"

The jackal snorted. "He's still playing with _toys_? How pathetic can you get?"

Sonic whirled. "Oh, I don't know. Seems to me you do exactly the same thing. The only difference is that _your_ toy has feelings." He moved to stand beside Tails in a protective fashion.

"He's a freak and a semi-feral one at that."

"If I hear that word once more," Sonic said acidly, "I'm going to start getting _really_ mad." He'd already figured out the semi-feral part when Tails had bitten him, but if anyone had a right to go feral, it was the fox.

"Don't," Tails said worriedly. "They—" He glanced around at the gang, then stretched up on tiptoe and pulled Sonic's head down to whisper in his ear. "If you do that, they're never gonna wanna be friends with me."

"Friends with _you_?" That was the jackal again, and Tails yipped in surprise, wheeling around to stare at him. Looking at the size of the jackal's ears, Sonic supposed it wasn't surprising that Tails had been overheard. "You really thought...oh. Oh, how sweet. Let me give you a little advice, kid, something that might well stand you in good stead for the years to come. C'mere."

Willingly, Tails obeyed while Sonic eyed the jackal coldly.

"If you're planning to—"

"I'm not going to touch him," the jackal interrupted, smiling. There was something in that smile that Sonic didn't like, but he kept quiet. "Look, I'll even put my hands behind my back, see?" He did so, then crouched down to Tails' level. "C'mon kid, c'mere."

"You don't have to, Tails," Sonic said quietly. He didn't know why, but he didn't want Tails going near that jackal.

"'Sokay, Sonic; I wanna." Tails looked up at the jackal. "What?"

An enigmatic smile appeared on the other's face. "No, closer."

"Tails, don't!" Now Sonic's voice was sharp, understanding what was about to happen. Tails, reacting in the way of all four year olds when they hear something they don't want to – ie, having a sudden attack of deafness – padded up to the jackal until they were almost touching.

"That's it. Now, Tails, this is very important and something you need to remember for the rest of your life."

"Tails, get away from him," Sonic said.

"Don't mind Sonic; he's jealous because I'm about to tell you a secret he's never heard."

Tails' eyes opened wide in excitement and he edged closer, offering up an ear.

"What secret?" he said breathlessly.

"Alright." The jackal lowered his voice. "You ready?"

Tails nodded, hardly daring to breathe.

"Good." The jackal leaned in and barely breathed the words into Tails' ear. "Now listen closely, kid, because I'm only going to say this once." Taking a deep breath, he yelled at the top of his voice, "_You're a damn freak_!"

Tails yelped, partly in surprise and partly in pain as his ear flattened reflexively against his skull and he jerked away. A sly foot tripped him and he went sprawling on the ground, hitting both knees hard and biting back the yelp that exploded inside him.

Sonic dropped to the ground next to Tails, a protective hand on his shoulder as Caud and the jackal exchanged a high five.

"You okay, lil guy?" Sonic asked.

"Sure!" Tails said too heartily, then glanced at the gang and tried to laugh. "Yeah...that was a real good joke, guys...real good..."

His voice trailed off and he turned away hurriedly. Seeing his expression at that minute, Sonic found himself heartily wishing that he'd left Emerald Hill Zone to its fate.

"Tell you what, kiddo," he said softly. "Why don't you go on ahead and wait for me on the outskirts of the Zone? Because I'm gonna need you to show me the way to the next one."

Tails swallowed bravely, then glanced up at Sonic and managed a small smile followed by a nod.

"Yeah? Okay. Go on then. I'll see you in a minute."

"Sonic—"

"It's okay, kiddo. I'll come, I promise. I just got something to take care of first."

Tails hesitated, then turned and sped away, almost tripping again in his eagerness to escape.

"You just want a guide, Sonic, we can do that," Caud remarked.

"_You_," Sonic said, in a harsh tone quite different from the soothing words he'd spoken to Tails only a minute before, "have done enough already. I'm not going to give you all the kicking you deserve, because I'm not sure I could control myself. But I _am_ going to make sure you think twice before picking on a four year old kid again." He snorted. "Six to one odds too. Is that really the way you like to play things?" Before any of them had a chance to answer, Sonic had rammed the jackal hard, sending him flying into the civet, the impact knocking both sprawling onto the ground. Standing over them, Sonic had to resist a strong urge to spit on their bodies. Man, that really was a slippery slope; knock someone down and everything whirled on from there.

"That's for everything you've done to him and anyone else who couldn't fight back," he said coldly. "I just want you to know that I'm leaving this screwed up Zone and I don't plan on coming back, mostly because of you and your gang. So if Robotnik sneaks back and takes this Zone again, feel free to try and tackle him yourselves, because I sure as hell won't help you again."

Turning, he sped away and didn't stop until he reached Tails, who was sitting on a fallen tree and swinging his legs in an effort to appear nonchalant.

"Hi Sonic!" Leaping off the trunk, Tails grabbed Sonic's hand. "C'mon! We're gonna go to...to Aquatic Ruin Zone, right?"

"Is that the next Zone?"

"Uh..." Tails frowned. "I think so. But we're gonna go find out together, right? Right?"

"You bet." Sonic held out a hand and Tails seized it tightly. "You wanna go get your toy first?"

Tails shook his head. "Nuh uh! I was...I was jus' kidding when I said that!" His ears drooped. "'Cause...'cause big kids don't play with toys, right Sonic? Mebbe it's time I outgrew them. In fact...yeah. Yeah, I think I've outgrew toys starting from...from _now_. Yeah."

Sonic put a hand on the little fox's shoulder. "Tails, don't listen to anything those guys said. You want your super-cool Sonic fighter ship, we can get it."

"Nuh uh! 'S a dumb toy an' I can make loads more toys!" Tails faltered briefly, then added, "Least...I could if I wanted them. An' I don't. Nope. No way. No more toys 'cause I'm a big kid an' I'm gonna go...go to a cold turkey. Sonic, why've I gotta go to a cold turkey?"

Sonic almost laughed, caught it just in time. "Going cold turkey, you mean?"

"That's what I said. Why've I gotta go to a cold turkey every time I give up something? Does the turkey tell you how to do it? 'Cause I don't know any turkeys, Sonic, 'cept for old Comb an' he moved to Hill Top Zone so he's prob'ly real warm right now." Tails looked downcast for a minute, then brightened. "You think if we took him into the mountains he'd get cold enough? Or we could always put him in a freezer. That'd make him cold, right?"

"Oh, Tails." Giving up the unequal struggle, Sonic sat down and laughed until his sides hurt. Finally managing to get some control over himself, he got to his feet, wiping his eyes. "Man, what am I gonna do with you?"

Tails shifted hesitantly, understanding there was no malice in Sonic's laughter but still not understanding. "Why're you laughing, Sonic?"

Sonic shook his head, still grinning broadly. "I'm sorry, kiddo. I wasn't laughing at you, at least, not in a bad way. C'mon." He slung a friendly arm around the fox's shoulders. "Let's go get your super cool Sonic fighter ship, huh?"

For a minute, Tails looked sorely tempted, then he shook his head. "Nuh uh. I told you I've outgrew toys. I don't need any dumb ship. Sonic, why aren't we taking the Tornado?"

"Because I want to conserve fuel," Sonic said, "and don't try changing the subject, Tails! Look me in the eyes and tell me honestly you don't want me to run back and get your toy."

"I don't wanna be a pain—"

"You're not being a pain, kiddo. Look at me."

Tails shifted his bright blue eyes to Sonic's jade ones, expecting to see scorn or challenge. Instead there was a sympathetic expression on the hedgehog's face, and Tails felt his determination start to waver.

"I...I..."

Oh, this was no good! He was a big kid now, wasn't he? Even Sonic had agreed with that, and the gang were right; big kids didn't play with toys.

"I don't wanna get the toy," he said almost inaudibly. He did want it, he wanted it so badly it hurt, but he wasn't going to do anything to jeopardise Sonic's good opinion of him. "I don't want it," he repeated, his voice cracking slightly.

Sonic continued to hold his gaze steadily. "You sure?"

Not trusting his voice, Tails swallowed once and nodded. Sonic frowned slightly.

"Tails, are you okay?"

"Yup! Sure I'm okay! Why wouldn't I be? We're going right now, huh Sonic? Right now?"

Sonic gave up. "Sure. Right now."

"Yeah!" Tails looked up at Sonic. It was a very good imitation of the fox's normal happy expression, and Sonic might well have been fooled if he didn't already know what the real thing looked like. If the eyes were the windows to the soul, then Tails' windows looked like they were cracked and about to shatter. "C'mon, Sonic! Race you to the next Zone!"

Inwardly wondering how the hell he was going to overcome this difficulty, Sonic grinned at the little fox. "You're on."

It wasn't bad either, he thought to himself as he hung just behind Tails. Going as slowly as this...you really did get to see more of the scenery, although he wasn't sure that was a good thing. Emerald Hill Zone was a sick Zone, a no-good Zone in Sonic's opinion; with the exception of Tails, that bear in the bar (oh, alright, and the food as well) the hedgehog had found nothing worthwhile in this place at all. He was glad to be leaving it behind.

He only wished he felt as happy about what he was likely to be walking into.

**(wipes forehead) Phew! Okay, so that's Emerald Hill Zone done...next up is Chemical Plant Zone :D Hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you read, please review!**


	8. Chemical Plant Zone

**Asher Tye: Thanks :D I kind of liked the idea of Emerald Hill Zone not being the paradise it looks like...the concept started in _Caves_ and here I got to develop it a lot more :P**

**Professor Vengeance: (happy grin) Thanks; I wasn't sure how I was supposed to get the Robotnik battle in at first, so I'm glad it worked. Glad you liked the name as well ;)**

**Shadow-spawn180: (laughs) Yeah, me too...I'm not sure where the word _whump_ came from, it just arrived in my psyche :P Little kids tend to pick one word and fixate on it, so I figured _whump_ could be Tails' ;)**

**Kj: Thanks, I'll try :)**

**Dr. Cat: Heh, of course I responded; I LOVE reviews and if someone comments, it's only fair to acknowledge them ;) And thanks; I'm glad you're still enjoying it :P**

**Shaddress: No worries; I'll take reviews as and when people have the time to write them :P**

**FriedBrickWall: I too hate chemical and water zones...only slightly less than I do certain aerial ones (coughWingFortressplatformscough) Gotta wonder what Sonic's gonna make of it though ;)**

**Hawk's Soul: (blushes) Thanks :) And yes, you're right, I do want to keep going, particularly with the amount of reviews I've been getting :P**

**Sonic-Addict: I'm sure he won't (_Tails: GETchore Tails T-shirts and souvenir mugs here! On'y two Mobiums apiece!_) Erm...on the other hand...;)**

**Poridet: Thanks, I liked that line too :P**

**Lewisty: (blushes again) Thanks...I just hope you keep enjoying it as much as you have before :P**

**Toboe16: Yep, it was kinda long...when my writing gets started it's hard to stop ;)**

**Az the Dragon: Thanks, glad you're enjoying it :)**

**D.C. 111: Thanks :) No, Sonic isn't annoyed with Tails, but relationships and friendships take time to build up; he's not going to be overly enthusiastic about adopting a kid he's only known for a month or so :) At the moment part of him doesn't mind Tails tagging along, part of him feels very protective towards the little fox, part of him doesn't much like the idea of giving up his solitude and independence and part of him wants Tails gone in order to stop the kid getting injured**

**Tydian: (blushes) Thanks, I'll try :)**

They'd been going for about half an hour when Tails suddenly burst into tears. Sonic, who had been expecting something along those lines to happen, was taken aback by the force of it.

"Tails..." he began helplessly, then stopped. "Okay kiddo. C'mere." Dropping to one knee, he pulled the little fox into a hug, rocking him back and forth as Tails clung to him like a lifeline.

It took a good quarter of an hour before Tails' sobs wound down to an occasional sniffle and hiccup, and Sonic's chest fur was soaked right through.

"Sonic?" Tails said hoarsely.

"Yeah, lil buddy?"

The little fox hiccuped once. "Sonic, why? Why'd it have to be me who was born with two tails an' whose mum and dad died an' who got thrown outta his house? Why, Sonic? Why me?"

Sonic hugged the fox tightly. "I dunno, kiddo. I dunno."

"Wish I was never born," Tails mumbled into Sonic's chest.

"C'mon, what kinda talk's that?"

Tails wriggled for a few minutes before saying, "Okay, so I don't." Small face scrunched up in a scowl, he glared down towards Emerald Hill Zone. "I wish _they_ were never born."

Sonic laughed. "Now _that's_ more like the Tails I know and constantly get pounce attacked by." He shook his head. "Listen kiddo. What those jerks did to you back there was one of the worst things I've ever seen done to anyone. But don't let it get you down too much, Tails. Don't give them the satisfaction." He winked. "C'mon, let's go. You wanna ride, squirt?"

Tails' face lit up like a flare. "You mean that? _Honest_?"

"Sure I do. C'mere." Sonic scooped the little fox into his arms and Tails yipped with excitement.

"You'll go fast, Sonic, right? Real fast?"

"Hey." Sonic glanced down at Tails and winked again. "I'm Sonic the hedgehog, remember? You ever heard of me going slow?"

Tails nodded. "Uh huh. In episode fourteen of the _Sonic Comic_, when ol' Robotnik zapped you with the Slowamatron."

"There's no such thing as a Slowamatron," Sonic answered, although a little doubt surfaced in his mind; after all, there was no reason why there _couldn't_ be, some time in the future.

"That's _exactly_ what you said in the comic, Sonic! An' then ol' Robotnik zapped you an' you haaad tooo taaaalk liiiiike thiiiiis." Tails squirmed, settling himself more comfortably in Sonic's arms. "We gonna run now, Sonic?"

"Yeah." Sonic took a couple of steps, then stopped as his curiosity got the better of him. "What happened after I got zapped by this Slowamatron?"

"Dunno," Tails said with a shrug. "You had to get the next issue to find out, an' I couldn't. C'mon Sonic, let's _go_!"

Sonic shook his head wryly, then broke into a run, Tails squealing with delight as the speed picked up.

In fact, the hedgehog stopped around ninety miles an hour, infuriatingly slow for him, but he wasn't sure what effect excessive speed would have on the little fox.

Skidding to a stop at an impressive looking wall and archway, he looked up at the yellow lettering which informed anyone who might be interested that this was Chemical Plant Zone.

"Why'd you stop?" Tails demanded, then his ears drooped. "Am I too heavy?"

"Heavy? If anything, you're too light," Sonic answered. "We're gonna have to get some serious meals into you, kiddo. You're nothing but skin and bones."

Tails squinted at his reflection critically in a metal wall, then looked back up at Sonic. "An' eyeballs," he pointed out.

"And eyeballs," Sonic agreed, grinning broadly, "and a very active voice. But you're still too thin for a kid your age. We gotta get you a sandwich or something."

Tails considered. "Chocolate's real good for putting on weight, right Sonic? Mebbe you could try feeding me that in a sandwich."

Sonic stopped. "A chocolate _sandwich_?"

"Yeah! With chocolate milkshake an' chocolate squirty cream on top an' a double layered triple-frosted chocolate fudge cake for dessert!"

Sonic laughed and deposited Tails on the ground. "Or how about I get you something _healthy_, like veg?"

"Bleah!" Tails pulled a disgusted face, then grabbed Sonic's hand and held it tightly as the two of them started walking into the Zone. "How can something that tastes as icky as veg _possibly_ be good for you, Sonic?"

The hedgehog laughed again. "I've been wondering that for years, kiddo."

"Does that mean I can get a double layered triple frosted chocolate fudge cake?" Tails said eagerly.

"It means we're going into the first decent restaurant we see and getting you something _healthy_."

"Oh." Tails drooped for a minute, then perked up. "But...you go to a restaurant and you gotta have dessert, right? Three course meals, right Sonic?"

Sonic grinned, shaking his head wryly. "Tails, if you can find someone willing to give you a double layered triple frosted chocolate fudge cake, and _if_ you eat something healthy beforehand, then yeah, you can have one."

"Something healthy?"

"Yeah."

Tails considered. "Okay. How about a carrot stick?"

"Not what I had in mind, and you know it," Sonic said in mock-stern tones. Spotting a pleasant looking restaurant, he pushed open the door and stepped in, Tails trotting along behind him. "Table for two?"

No answer.

Sonic frowned. "Hey! Anyone here?"

The soft whine of machinery warned him and he spun to see a bot crawling (sliding?) towards him. It was like nothing Sonic had ever seen before...if he had to draw a comparison, he'd say it was like a small, very shallow mechanical pyramid.

"Pounce attack!"

Sonic was ready for it and caught Tails as he raced past. "No! Come on, we're getting outta here."

Tails struggled uselessly. "But Sonic, I wanna make it go _poom_!"

"You can make it go _poom_ some other time, now come on!" Where had that come from? Sonic didn't know...although now he thought about it, it did bear a startling resemblance to something Mighty's mother might have said.

Tails stopped struggling, although this was only because the bot had opened its top, spikes moving out like the petals on a flower. "What's it doing?"

Sonic eyed the bot apprehensively. He'd never seen one like this before, but he had vivid memories of the others he'd smashed. Usually when a bot stopped moving like that, it was about to—

"Look, Sonic, it's throwing a plasma ball at us!"

—shoot, Sonic thought grimly. Definitely time to get out of there. Picking up Tails and ignoring the little fox's extremely loud protests – Tails wanted to jump over the bot and see if it would fire a plasma ball to the other side – Sonic ran.

He spindashed two identical bots in his path – one crawling up a wall – and only stopped when he accidentally ploughed into a hatch on the floor, shattering it to reveal a glass tube.

"Oooh!" Tails wriggled free, and Sonic let him go. There were no bots nearby. How much trouble could the little fox get into?

A loud – well, Sonic supposed you could call it a war cry, since chicken impersonators didn't usually go in for that much vibrato – a loud war cry came from Tails' direction and the hedgehog whirled to see the little fox curl up in his best impression of Sonic and leap into the opened tube.

"_Tails_!" Racing over, Sonic peered in, but Tails had already zoomed out of sight.

Swearing viciously, Sonic dived into the tube after the fox. Some kind of suction pulled him in, yanking him around bends and corners hard enough to leave bruises before finally spitting him out of another hatch which flipped shut behind him.

"That was _so cool_," Tails said from where he was hovering in midair waiting for Sonic and practically glowing with excitement. "Can we do it again, Sonic?"

"No!" Sonic said sharply. He didn't think he'd ever get over that feeling of being sucked through the tubes like a straw, the pressure too strong to even _think_ of going against it. Looking up, he added, "And come down from there; I wanna talk to you."

Tails flew down obediently, landing with a bump in front of Sonic, who dropped down to the fox's level.

"You want to come with me, Tails, we gotta lay down some ground rules, okay?"

Tails bit his lip. "'Kay."

"Rule one, no going on ahead of me and out of my sight unless you're flying out of harm's way. Rule two, _I_ go first into any dangerous situations! I don't want you getting hurt."

Tails rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna get hurt, Sonic; I'm with _you_."

"What was that tube, anyway?" Sonic wondered aloud, turning to glare at the tube in question.

Overhearing, Tails answered, "Chemical Plant transport. It's how you move between different spots on the same level. If you know what you're doing an' lean jus' right, you can go down different tubes too." Seeing Sonic's surprised look, he added, "I met a kid from Chemical Plant who came on vacation to Emerald Hill an' he told me all about it."

"Yeah?" They started walking again along a bridge, and Sonic tried to avoid looking at the water underneath.

"Uh huh! An' then he had to go home here an'...Sonic, do you think he's okay?"

Sonic glanced at the little fox and managed a smile. "Yeah, I'm sure he is."

After all, he thought, it might be true. Even Robotnik couldn't roboticise everybody in a Zone simultaneously. There was always the possibility that Tails' friend had been tossed into a prison.

Sonic stopped suddenly, staring at the floor ahead. If the idea hadn't been too crazy to suggest, he'd have said it looked like someone had inlaid building blocks.

"Tails?"

"Yup?"

"Did your friend mention anything like that?" Sonic pointed and Tails looked, then his face cleared.

"Oh sure. That's how Chemical Plant residents move between levels. You gotta be real careful though when you're standing on the top block 'cause if you're not then the blocks above come down and squish you flat."

"Squish you?" If there was one death Sonic dreaded more than drowning, it was being crushed to death.

Tails nodded. "Uh huh. C'mon!"

Before Sonic could stop him, the little fox raced on ahead, jumped onto one of the blocks, almost lost his balance when the whole row rose up suddenly, then taken off and flown past the second layer to the level beyond.

"Tails!"

There was no reply and Sonic muttered something exceedingly uncomplimentary _re_ certain two-tailed foxes who never listened before leaping onto the block, which had lowered as soon as Tails had jumped off. Moving to stand on the second block from the top, he watched as the second layer rotated smoothly in a circle towards him. Timing it perfectly, he leapt to the top block, then onto the second layer as it slid towards him and from there to the next level.

Tails, who had been hopping from one foot to the other, grinned cheekily at Sonic when the hedgehog finally arrived.

"I thought you were fast, Sonic."

Sonic dropped to one knee in front of Tails, then took hold of his arms firmly. "Tails, don't you _ever_ do that again! You hear me?"

Tails squirmed. "I was on'y kidding, Sonic!"

"What...no, I didn't mean that. You broke both ground rules, didn't you?"

"Nuh uh! You said I was 'llowed to fly on ahead if I was flying outta harm's way, an' I _was_! An' besides, this wasn't dangerous, Sonic."

"I'll be the judge of that, Tails."

"Well, you're not gonna be a very good judge, 'cause what's dangerous for you isn't gonna be dangerous for me. It'd be dangerous for you to jump off a cliff but not me, 'cause I can fly and you can't. Uh." Tails squirmed some more. "Does that make sense?"

"Yeah. Kinda." Releasing Tails with a wry shake of the head, Sonic straightened up. "Okay squirt. But I'm adding those moving blocks to the list of dangerous situations," he added.

"There's a list?" Tails' ears perked. "Where is it, Sonic? I wanna read it!"

Sonic laughed. For some reason, he found it near impossible to stay mad at Tails for long.

"Maybe later." He jerked his head towards the bridge ahead. "Go on. I think that part's safe; you wanna go scout it out?"

Tails bounded a full six feet into the air and hovered there. "_Yeah_! Sonic, if I find a bot, can I whump it an' make it go _poom_?"

The grin disappeared off Sonic's face. Sensing the hedgehog's change of mood, Tails added, "Please? C'mon Sonic; I won our bot whumping contest in Emerald Hill Zone, remember?"

"Oh, you had to bring that up, didn't you?" Sonic muttered, a little sourly.

Of course, smashing bots wasn't a contest or a game, he told himself sternly. Combat was a serious business, and it didn't matter who smashed the most bots.

But even _so_...!

"Please, Sonic?" Tails persisted, and the hedgehog gave in.

"Alright. But—"

"Yeah! You're the _coolest_, Sonic!"

"—only _if_ you can do it safely," Sonic added, somewhat redundantly since Tails was already ten feet in front of him and accelerating fast. Grinning slightly, the hedgehog started to follow.

Something gripped Sonic – too securely for him to spindash his way out – and lifted him into the air. There was a faint beeping from above him and Sonic redoubled his struggles, understanding what would happen if he couldn't get away in time.

"Sonic!" Tails raced back along the ground, leaping up to smash the bot.

"A little more to the right!" Sonic yelled down to him. Tails, rubbing the part of his head that he'd cracked on the ceiling, glowered at the hedgehog.

"Yeah, I kinda figured!" Backing off, crouching down, he jumped again and this time Sonic felt the metallic pincers abruptly loosen and drop him the ten feet to the ground...although the furry arms that took their place weren't much of an improvement as far as comfort went.

"Sonic, are you okay?" Tails looked up into the hedgehog's face. "It didn't hurt you? You're okay, right?"

Sonic managed to extricate himself from the fox's too-tight embrace and looked down into the worried face. "Yeah, lil buddy, I'm okay. Thanks to you."

Tails shivered. "Mebbe you should go first, Sonic. I don't want you to almost die again an' if I'm behind you I'll see if you get grabbed an' I can whump the bot that did it."

Sonic started to answer that he'd taken care of himself just fine when he'd fought Robotnik before, then bit the words back. That was then. This was now, and it seemed Robotnik had learned from past mistakes.

"Sure." He glanced up to the bridge ahead, where he could see transporter platforms circling. "I'll jump on one of those and when I'm safely on the next level, I'll call you, okay?" Previous experience of the little fox's talent for trouble prompted Sonic to add, "and if anything happens down here, yell for me as loudly as you can, okay?"

Tails nodded.

"Great. Wait here, kiddo." Sonic raced ahead onto the bridge, then turned to call Tails, thinking he'd rather have the little fox where he could see him at all times.

He was never quite sure what happened next, but somehow he went from standing on a solid platform to falling rapidly through the water. Panicking, Sonic thrashed about in a frantic effort to escape, but his struggles only made him sink deeper. Without thinking, he opened his mouth to shout for help, and lukewarm water rushed in, flooding his lungs and he blacked out.

When he came to again, he was lying on his stomach on the platform just to the right of the bridge with Tails gingerly tapping one of his quills. Pushing himself up on one arm, Sonic's chest hitched once or twice and he vomited up a surprising amount of water.

"What..." he managed hoarsely.

"Are you okay?" Tails asked. "Sometimes the floor spins upside down like that an' you jus' gotta be ready for it."

"Great," Sonic muttered, not quite under his breath. "_Now_ he tells me! How'd I get here?" Glancing around he added irritably, "And what're you doing to my quills?"

Tails flattened his ears. "Well...I fished you out an' I thought you were s'posed to pat people on the back when they choke on'y I can't find your back 'cause your quills're in the way so I thought if I patted you on the quill it'd be the same. It is, right Sonic?"

Sonic looked at the little fox's appealing face and managed a smile. "Yeah, it is. Thanks kiddo." He pushed himself back to his knees and winced. "Oh hell; big mistake. Watch it, Tails, I'm gonna—"

He vomited again, although not for as long a time.

"Puke?" Tails offered helpfully.

"You got it," Sonic said in a somewhat muffled voice; he was lying face down to one side of his puddle of vomit. After a few minutes, he risked sitting up and when this failed to produce any adverse effects, pushed himself carefully to his feet. "C'mon. Let's go."

Without looking around, he started towards the bridge again and leapt for the transport platform.

Tails started to follow, then caught sight of something off to the right and went to investigate that instead. To his delight, he found that his first thought had been right; someone had dropped a ten Mobium note. Bending down, he grabbed it and for a long while, just stared at it happily. He'd _never_ had so much money, not _ever_. Maybe if Sonic left him, he could buy a house with it! And a hovercar, and a shed to build stuff in!

Wandering after Sonic in a happy dream, Tails was so busy building castles in the sky that he didn't notice something dropping silently towards him, didn't spot the danger until he was grabbed and lifted firmly into the air by one of the same kind of bots that had grabbed Sonic earlier. He yelped, more in surprise than fear, then again in dismay as he dropped the ten Mobium note, which floated gently down before slipping into one of the vents.

A beeping noise brought him back to the present and Tails flattened his ears. He knew what that sound meant. Oh boy, did he know.

"_Sonic_! Sonic, where are you?"

The grabber's beeping grew faster and the little fox thrashed about wildly, struggling to free an arm, a leg, a tail, _anything_ that would help him get out before the bot exploded.

There was a flash of blue light, followed by a sudden sensation of movement and heat on his back and Tails found himself falling. Whirring both namesakes, he managed to land safely on his feet, and the little fact that he also happened to land on top of Sonic in no way diminished his triumph.

"Tails?" Sonic caught hold of him and checked him over. "Tails, are you okay?"

Tails nodded bravely. "Sure! I mean, I knew you were gonna come save me, Sonic, 'cause that's what you do, right? Right?"

"Yeah." Relief at finding the little fox unhurt swamped Sonic and he turned away rather abruptly. "C'mon kiddo, let's go."

"Not yet! I gotta find the cash!"

"What?" Sonic turned. "What cash?"

"The ten Mobium note I dropped! It went down between the gaps an' I gotta get it, Sonic, else how'm I gonna buy a house?"

"Buy a..." Sonic shook his head. "Kiddo, you'd need about ten thousand ten Mobium notes to buy a house."

"Then I _gotta_ hang onto this one, Sonic, 'cause I can't afford to lose any! How much is ten thousands?"

Sonic laughed. "A lot." He took hold of Tails' hand. "C'mon lil buddy, let's go. There'll be other ten Mobium notes."

Somewhat disconsolately, Tails padded along next to Sonic.

"Okay. But don't 'spect me to talk 'cause I can't 'cause I'm moulting."

Sonic bit back another laugh. "I think you mean moping." Catching sight of his companion's bushy fur – which, after Tails' swim and subsequent shaking himself dry, caused the little fox to resemble an ambulatory pompom – he added, "Actually, maybe you didn't."

"Maybe I'm doing both," Tails suggested. "Can you mope an' moult together, Sonic?"

"I've never moulted, so I don't know. And I thought you weren't talking."

"An' I'm not!" Tails retorted, and then proceeded to keep up a running commentary on everything he wasn't talking about, a commentary which Sonic tuned out after a few minutes, only coming back to Mobius in time to hear Tails say, "—an' I'm not talking about my feet hurting, an' I'm not talking about how cool it is that we gotta jump on more a those blocks up ahead, an' I'm not—"

"Tails, stop talking for a minute," Sonic said edgily. Tails let out a guttural noise of frustration as they came to the end of the corridor and to a shaft.

"I _wasn't_ talking, Sonic, don't you ever listen? What's wrong?" he added, as the hedgehog stopped on the edge.

"The water's rising." Sonic stared at the insidious liquid that was creeping nearer, seeping over the floor and his sneakers. Soon it would be up to his ankles, then his waist, then over his head...uh uh. He turned to bolt back the way they'd come and try and go another way around, only to find a solid barrier had descended behind them, blocking the way.

"We're gonna have to swim," Tails said eagerly. "You swim, right Sonic?"

Sonic turned a haggard look on the little fox. "Do _you_?"

"Oh sure! I swimmed every day an' in every pond last summer, before it got too cold. All we gotta do is swim up."

Sonic hesitated. Well...it might work...

"Tails, I want you to go on ahead, if you can swim without getting hurt," he said aloud.

Tails stared at Sonic. "But what 'bout you?"

"I'll be okay, kiddo. I need you to...you gotta—" Water splashed the hedgehog's bare leg and he almost climbed the nearest wall.

"Sonic?" Tails said nervously. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay!" Sonic snapped, fear making his voice a little sharper than he'd intended. "Just..._go_! I need you to...to..." He caught sight of the rising water level and felt his brain shut down again.

"To make sure there's nothing waiting to whump you when you come up?" Tails offered.

"Yeah!" Sonic seized on the explanation with a profound sense of relief. "Yeah, I need you to go make sure the coast is clear." He looked down at the water again, noticing that it was up to his knees. "And if you could go and do that before I drown, that would be _fabulous_," he added with biting sarcasm.

"You got it!" Tails raced away, toes just skimming the surface of the liquid as he flew up. A few seconds later, his voice came down. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"You wanna be careful here 'cause there's more of those blocky things. You wanna be real careful, Sonic, 'cause you could easily get squished on these; they're all moving, not jus' one or two like back there."

The hedgehog squeezed his eyes shut. _Wonderful_. Now not only did it look like he was about to drown, he was going to be turned into a part of the décor as well.

The water slapped against his chest and he snapped his eyes open, panic starting to set in. If he didn't move soon...Sonic started to close his eyes again, then remembered the blocks that were waiting for him at the end of the passage and opened them hurriedly. He wondered if you'd have time to jump out the way if you got caught between a block and a wall.

"Sonic!" The hedgehog heard Tails' voice, albeit tinnily and apparently from a great distance. "Sonic, you gotta come! The water's still rising!"

_Tell me something I don't know_, Sonic said, or tried to; his tongue seemed to be clinging to the roof of his mouth in abject terror.

At last, when the water had risen up to his neck, Sonic managed to bully his body into movement, jumping onto the first layer of blocks and judging the distance carefully for the next jump. He almost didn't make it – the water slowed his motion while the blocks continued to move at normal speed – but some kind of instinct took over and he managed to haul himself up to the next block. The layers gave way to single blocks after that, and Sonic found by jumping on one he could reach the upper level where Tails was waiting.

"Sonic! I thought you'd got squished!" Tails buried the hedgehog in a hug. "I was gonna come down an' look for you, honest." He looked up into Sonic's face. "Are you okay? You look kinda jumpy."

This was something of an understatement on Tails' part, since Sonic's near brush with the two deaths he feared most – not to mention the time he'd spent in the water – were making him tremble violently. Tails was forced to repeat the question twice before Sonic took it in.

"What? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine." The sight of Tails jogged something in Sonic's memory and he took a deep breath. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"Well, sure I am." Tails squinted at the hedgehog suspiciously. "Are you _sure_ you're not hurt, Sonic? 'Cause you're acting real funny."

_You should have seen me after I came out of the Labyrinth Zone_, Sonic wanted to say, but didn't. He still had vivid nightmares about that experience. Chemical Plant wasn't as bad as Labyrinth, but there wasn't much to choose between them.

"C'mon," he said aloud, glancing back at the water with another shudder. "I hate this Zone, Tails. Let's get outta here."

They took a brief detour into the Special Zone on their way – and this time they did it without Tails hugging Sonic every time he touched a ring, unlike the previous two – and managed to grab the third Chaos Emerald.

"What's so special about these things?" Tails wanted to know, as he examined the deep red gem – he and Sonic had got the violet one at a Star Post between Emerald Hill and Chemical Plant.

"No idea, to tell you the truth," Sonic admitted. "But if Robotnik wants them...man, that can't be good."

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?" They were moving again, and Tails grabbed Sonic's wrist to pull him over the surface of the water and onto the next stable platform.

"How'd you meet Robotnik?"

_How did I meet him?_ Sonic thought bitterly._ Well, Tails, I tunnelled up into his underground lab and promptly became best friends with him, not to mention his lab assistant. Of course, that was before I turned him into the maniac he is now._

"I met him when he came to Green Hill Zone," he said shortly.

"Why'd you take off to go an' whump him?"

"Because I felt like it," Sonic lied.

Tails stopped and landed in front of Sonic, looking up at him with a hurt expression. "You don't gotta _lie_ to me, Sonic. Why'd you really do it?"

Sonic looked ahead, over the bridge. "Hey, I think I see the prison." Breaking into a run – although not too fast for Tails to keep up – he darted around the little fox and raced for the bridge. Leaping over the rotating segments automatically – you got to recognise them after a while – Sonic landed on the stable part and prepared to jump again, then froze.

"Sonic?" Panting for breath, Tails came to hover next to the hedgehog for all of three seconds before crashing to the ground. "Sonic, can't we take a break?"

"Get up," Sonic said very quietly.

"But Sonic—"

"Tails, get on your feet! _Now_!"

Tails obeyed, almost falling again before seeing what had caught Sonic's attention.

Robotnik hovered between them and the prison. He was in...well, Tails supposed it _was_ the same machine as he'd been in earlier, only he'd clearly made some modifications; the most noticeable of these being the two gallon glass tank fastened to the top.

"What's _that_?" Tails breathed, half scared, half fascinated.

"I call it my Mega Mack Eggstractor." Safe within the cockpit, Robotnik pulled a lever and plunged a tube into the water beneath. "Let me show you how it works."

Sonic edged away. "No thanks. I think I'm happier not knowing."

"Oh, but I'm not." Above Robotnik's head, the glass container started filling with water. "And you seem to be looking a little dusty, Sonic. How about a nice shower?"

Sonic frowned in perplexity. "It'll take one hell of a shower to drown me, doc, and frankly I doubt you got enough water in your entire vehicle." Granted that probably wasn't Robotnik's plan, but Sonic had no idea what that plan might be, and even his hydrophobia wasn't severe enough to make him scream and run away every time he got sprayed with water.

Robotnik chuckled. "Oh, my dear Sonic, this isn't water. At least, not anymore." He smiled. "Water mixed with various pollutants, some of which are only ever created as a by-product of the chemical processes here in this plant, results in an extremely toxic substance which I like to call Mega Mack. Like you, it's bright blue and like you, it has a tendency to cause extreme irritation to anyone unlucky enough to come into direct contact with it. Allow me to demonstrate."

The glass tank moved away from the vehicle, supported by a mechanical arm and before Sonic had time to dodge, toxic liquid spattered his hide. Instinct took over and he ran, skidded on the edge of the platform and fell sideways into the water.

"_Sonic_!" Tails raced over and leapt, using both namesakes for extra lift and landed squarely on Robotnik's vehicle. He'd learned his lesson last time and this time grabbed a sturdy looking strut and held onto it while kicking and bouncing, the overall effect being one of very enthusiastic chin ups, and Tails' arms were getting tired before too long, but he persevered.

"Get off, you little pest!" Momentarily forgetting Sonic in the face of this new threat, Robotnik reached out for a button which would, when flicked, send an electrical current pulsing through the outside.

Tails glared at Robotnik and swung up and back for the most powerful kick he'd managed to land. The force of his blow tore the already damaged strut from its moorings, but it did the trick; the mack extractor was shattered. Furious, Robotnik hit the button to electrocute Tails, but it was already too late; the fox had fallen off the machine and into the water, where he was swimming determinedly after Sonic. For a moment, Robotnik considered flying after him and turning on the electrical current while underwater, then balked. The likely results were far too devastating and unpredictable for even him to consider.

Unaware of his narrow escape, Tails continued swimming determinedly under the stable platform until he came across a pair of familiar red and white sneakers. Grabbing these, he pushed up hard, propelling Sonic safely onto dry land and scrambling out after him.

Spluttering and coughing up water for the second time since arriving in Chemical Plant Zone, Sonic collapsed onto his side and shut his eyes, exhausted.

Tails, who had dried himself off by the simple method of shaking himself vigorously until everything and everyone around him was wetter than he was, frowned. "Why didn't you swim and come up under him and whump him there, Sonic?"

"You seemed to be doing okay without me," Sonic said, somewhat evasively.

"Yeah, but on'y 'cause I was scared he'd killed you." Tails frowned. "He didn't, right Sonic?"

Sonic opened his eyes the barest crack. "If he had, would I be talking to you like this?"

"I dunno. I never talked to a dead guy before, so I dunno how they usually talk."

"Very, very quietly," Sonic said. He was starting to recover a little of his poise, although the occasional shiver still coursed through his body. "Tails, what's the next Zone?"

"I dunno. I think Oil Ocean."

"That's what you said last time," Sonic pointed out, slightly irritably.

"Well, I know Oil Ocean's on Westside Island, so I gotta be right _sometime_."

Sonic managed a weak grin. "Yeah, I guess you do. C'mon squirt." Somehow he struggled to his feet, staggering slightly.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"If we let the people outta that thing—" Tails pointed to the prison— "are they gonna be mean to me like the ones back in Emerald Hill Zone?"

Sonic shook his head. "I don't think so. Most of them'll be too pleased to be free, and don't forget they might well have seen you beat Robotnik all by yourself."

Tails' face lit up. "I did, didn't I? _Cool_! They _gotta_ put me in a comic now, huh Sonic?" Glancing at the prison, he rubbed the ear the jackal had yelled into and sidled away. "But still...mebbe you should break the prison, Sonic. 'Cause...uh...'cause I did the last one an' I don't want you to get outta practice. Yeah! Outta practice. Uh. Then can we go get some food?" Tails rubbed his stomach. "I'm _starving_."

"Oh, starving, are you?" Sonic reached down to join the fox in rubbing and his rub quickly degenerated into a tickle, as Tails had known it would.

"Hey, no biting," Sonic added sharply as Tails got a little carried away and opened his mouth wide.

The fox shut it, almost trapping his tongue and flattened his ears. "Sorry. I jus'...sorry." His gaze lingered on the scabbed bite on Sonic's hand and he cringed in shame. Wasn't it bad enough he'd bitten Sonic once, without going back to do it again?

"It's okay. C'mon, one of us is gonna have to let those guys out. You wanna do it, or shall I?"

"You. Like I said, I don't want you to get outta practice."

Sonic laughed. "Alright, fine." Breaking into a run, he jumped and landed squarely on top of the plunger, disintegrating the prison and watching as the residents emerged one by one.

A high pitched yip from Tails caused Sonic's head to snap over to his right, wondering what had happened. Had Robotnik...?

No. Not Robotnik, but a brightly coloured macaw chick who answered Tails' excited greeting with a squawk and then the two of them took off, chasing each other in an aerial game of Tag.

Sitting down on the plunger, Sonic watched with a certain amount of amusement, wishing – not for the first time – that he could fly.

"Room for one more up there?" The speaker was an adult macaw, probably the father of the chick currently challenging Tails to an acrobatics contest.

Sonic shrugged. "Help yourself, it's a free Zone. I was just leaving anyway."

"Thanks." The macaw flapped up to sit next to Sonic. "It's good seeing those two together again. It just about broke Beak's heart when we finished our vacation in Emerald Hill."

"Probably not as much as it broke Tails'," Sonic answered. An idea struck him. "I don't suppose you'd consider taking—"

"No."

"No," Sonic agreed reluctantly, "you're right. It wouldn't work." He sighed. "Guess I'll have to keep him with me a little longer. Maybe someone in the next Zone'll take him in; a battlefield's no place for a little kid."

The macaw looked at him slightly askance. "You weren't much more than a little kid when you fought Robotnik, not if the stories are even half true."

"I was a bigger little kid, though."

"Yes." The macaw shifted. "Although that still doesn't answer the question of why you decided to take on someone like Robotnik singlehandedly." Before Sonic could answer, he shook his head. "Your business is your own. Whatever happened between you and Robotnik should stay between you and Robotnik. But not everybody thinks like I do. Watch your back, Sonic."

Sonic opened his mouth to ask just who the hell the macaw was, anyway, when what felt like two small cannonballs crashed into his chest and knocked him flying. Catching hold of his assailants reflexively, Sonic curled into a spin and pulled them over with him until he hit a wall.

"Sonic!" Tails protested from the hedgehog's right arm. "You're s'posed to be flattened, not roll over an' over like that!"

"And _you're_ supposed to warn people before you pounce attack them." Sonic looked at the macaw currently tucked into his left arm. "And who are you?"

The chick started to answer, then giggled instead and stuffed his head under his wing.

"Beak's shy," Tails explained, "so I promised I'd ask you for him."

"Huh?" Apprehensive now – anything was possible with Tails – Sonic stared at the little cub. "Ask me what?"

A well-read copy of a hardback book was pushed shyly towards the hedgehog.

"Beak wants you to sign this," Tails translated.

"What is it?" Curious, Sonic took it and flipped it open, then stared at the macaw. "Where'd you get _this_?"

A very muffled response. Sonic glanced at Tails, who said, "It's been in all the shops, Sonic, didn't you know?"

"No. No, I didn't." Sonic looked at the cover, which boasted the title _Sonic the Hedgehog: The Official Biography_. "This is—" he began furiously, then broke off, aware of his audience. It wasn't their fault this had happened, and yelling wouldn't do anything. Turning to the front page, he noticed that the publishing house was based in Metropolis Zone.

_Of course...that would explain why I haven't seen much of this stuff outside Westside Island_, Sonic realised. Aloud he said weakly, "Okay...so who's got a pen?"

"Then me next, Sonic? Please?" This time it was a comic book that was thrust at Sonic, who suppressed a sigh. Well, he couldn't do it for one and not the others...

"Okay. You next and anyone else, uh...just...get in line, okay?" he said. Taking one of the offered pens with a _thankyou_, he scrawled his name in the 'biography' and handed it back to Beak, who blushed, stared at his feet and mumbled something that Tails translated as "Oh wow, thanks, you're the bestest hedgehog in the whole wide _world_!" Sonic wasn't entirely sure how much creative licence Tails took with that particular interpretation, but he supposed dully that it didn't really matter.

Taking the comic book, he signed that and handed it back, then a poster of himself, then...Sonic took a look at the long line stretching out (a line which contained adults as well as kids) and suppressed a sigh.

At this rate, he wouldn't have to worry about stopping Robotnik; the doctor would most likely be dead of old age long before Sonic was halfway done.

**Okay, so that's Chemical Plant done...now it's on to my personal favourite, Aquatic Ruin :P If you read, please review!**


	9. Aquatic Ruin Zone

Virandi: (blushes) Thanks :D I'm really glad you're enjoying them...and yeah, I do have a lot of fun cross-referencing my stories ;)

**Kj: Thanks :) No, Beak isn't an official Sonic character as far as I know; he's just an NPC I created and brought in :P**

**Professor Vengeance: Me too ;) At least, I love the music; the block puzzle and Robotnik used to frustrate me completely...at least until I figured that if you attack at _just_ the right angle, Tails gets stuck in Robotnik's machine and wipes him out for you :P And thanks...I'm still a big fan of the Sonic/Tails sibling relationship (events in _Secrets _and _Caves_ notwithstanding ;)) I always had a soft spot for Tails...dunno why but he's just so cute :P And glad you like the battle banter; I'm never quite sure how that goes down ;) Now I just gotta work out eggy names for the rest of Robotnik's machines...**

**Az The Dragon: Thanks :D I felt kinda sorry for Sonic in the last chapter though...fear of drowning and 'getting squished', as Tails put it, are at least two things he and I have in common ;)**

**Coopland: Thanks, glad you're enjoying it :)**

**Poridet: How indeed? ;) And I had to keep the rising-water-and-block thing; that was just too good to leave out :P (Though I still think in terms of difficulty Chemical Plant should have at least come after Aquatic Ruin...)**

**Sonic-Addict: Thanks :D I'll try**

**Toboe16: Heh, I know what you mean...still, Chemical Plant was in the game so it's in the story ;) (Besides, I LOVE the theme music :P)**

**Ninjitsu15: Thanks :D Tails doesn't really have an accent, but like most four year olds, his pronunciation isn't exactly up to adult standard yet :P **

**Gameorama91: (blushes) Wow, thanks :) Hope you enjoy the rest of it as well ;)**

**Asher Tye: (grins) No, the whole world isn't against Tails...just that bit of it in Emerald Hill Zone and lately, Dr Robotnik ;) Actually, I can't wait until I get to Sky Chase either...and Casino Night Zone, although that's for a whole different reason :P**

**Hawk's Soul: (blushes again) Thanks :D As for Tails finding out about Sonic's fear of water...well, very possibly, considering they're about to head into a near-underwater Zone ;)**

**Shadow-spawn180: Thanks, I try :) And Aquatic Ruin Zone...(happy sigh) I love it, especially the boss fight at the end. Sometimes I even kill Sonic off just to draw it out ;)**

**D.C.111: Thanks :) As for updating soon...well, as soon as I can :P**

**Gameorama91: Thanks :D As for the _Sonic 1_ and _Sonic 3_ stories..._Sonic 1_ will be released once I get around to finishing the Prologue :P Since _Sonic 3_** **continues on from _Sonic 2_ (at least, it does in these adaptations ;)) it won't be released until _Rising Star_ is completed. And until I can think of a fitting name for it ;) On the _Sonic 3/Sonic and Knuckles_ front, I'll basically start with _Sonic 3_ and go straight onto _Sonic and Knuckles_...it'll be longer but it means I won't have to break what most people see as one story into two ones :P Erm...does that answer your question?**

**SonicRules12: Heh...I think everyone hated that part in Chemical Plant Zone ;) To tell the truth I very rarely bother with that Zone now; I cheat and skip straight to Aquatic Ruin...although I did play it recently to try and get the chapter right ;) As to the rest of it...(goes red and has goofy grin on face) Wow...thanks. I don't think I've ever got a review like that before :D **

**FriedBrickWall: Guess it's each to their own, huh:P Sonic going super...actually, I think Tails might very well see him ;) He always has with me (I think the latest Zone I went super was Mystic Cave...I usually try to get all the Emeralds by the time I fight Robotnik in Chemical Plant ;) Supposedly it's possible to go super in Emerald Hill, but I've never found enough Star Posts to manage it :P**

**Lewisty: Thanks :D**

By the time Sonic had signed autographs, waited for Tails to finish his game with Beak, gone on to the edge of the Zone, warped through a Star Post and collected the fourth Chaos Emerald, gone back three times for Tails and Beak to have a 'final' tearful goodbye, finally given in and bought Tails three double layered triple frosted chocolate fudge cakes in an attempt to ease the parting, stopped for Tails to eat them, gone on, stopped again for Tails to be sick and signed seventeen more autographs while he was waiting, it was so late that the hedgehog decided to crash in a bed and breakfast before going on to Aquatic Ruin.

"I miss Beak, Sonic," Tails said despondently. He was sitting in the bedroom he and Sonic were sharing, picking at his fingers. "Why couldn't we've taken him with us?"

Unseen by the little fox, Sonic clenched one hand into a fist, then unclenched it again. Tails had been saying this over and over again almost every minute of the two-hour walk, and the hedgehog's temper, which had already been frayed to shreds by his narrow escapes in Chemical Plant Zone, finally snapped.

"We couldn't take Beak firstly because his parents would never allow it, secondly because I doubt he'd want to leave them even if they _did_ and thirdly because one sidekick and/or tagalong is about all that I can handle, and one _more_ than I ever wanted in the first place!" Abruptly Sonic realised what he'd said and spun. "Tails…I didn't mean that. I'm sorry."

Tails, who was looking as though Sonic had slapped him, stared wordlessly at the hedgehog with huge, brimming eyes.

"You mean…you don't wanna be friends anymore?"

Sonic knelt down to Tails' eye level and took hold of the fox's hands in both his. "Of course I still want to be friends, squirt. It's just…" he hesitated, not sure how to proceed.

Tails sniffed loudly. "Is this 'cause I said I wanted to be in a comic an' video game with you? I didn't mean it, Sonic, you c'n be in them by yourself if you want."

"Oh kiddo." Sonic shook his head slowly. "You really think that's what this is all about? Some damn royalties?"

Another sniff. Tails wasn't crying, but it was obvious it was taking a huge effort on his part. "But you're not royal, Sonic, an' neither am I. An' if you didn't want me to come along, why didn't you jus' say that back in Em'rald Hill Zone?" He sniffed a third time, looked around for something to blot unshed tears on and settled for the back of his arm. "I gave up my cave an' my secret place an' my toy an' _everything_ to go with you, Sonic, an' now you're saying you never wanted me."

"Tails..." Sonic began, then his voice tailed off helplessly, the fox's words sparking an ugly chain of thoughts inside him.

_Yeah, Sonic. You might not want your fame and notoriety, but it still went to your head, didn't it? You thought that Tails would leave behind everything that means anything to him and forget about it, just because he happened to be with the great Sonic the Hedgehog and that was better than anything he had. Even if you never put it in so many words to yourself, that's what you thought and you know it_.

"Tails," Sonic said very quietly. "Tails, I want you to stay right here, okay? Don't leave this room until I get back."

Tails stared. "You're leaving me?"

"I'll come back, lil buddy. I promise."

"Oh sure, after you've whumped ol' Robotnik," Tails muttered into his fur.

An idea struck Sonic and he pulled out three of the four Chaos Emeralds and handed them to Tails.

"I'm not going to whump ol' Robotnik without these, Tails. You look after them for me, okay?"

Tails looked at the gems, then up at Sonic again and held out the red Chaos Emerald. "Can I have the blue one instead?"

Sonic laughed and ruffled the little fox's fur. "Sure." He swapped Emeralds. "But stay here, alright squirt? I'll be back very soon."

"Where're you going? I wanna come!"

"No, you stay here. I won't be long."

"But where—"

"You'll find out soon enough, Tails, now…now, watch TV or something, okay? I'll see you later."

In fact, it was late the following morning when Sonic finally returned; he'd been severely delayed by various residents until he'd been sorely tempted to just blaze on past. As soon as he opened the bedroom door, there was the sound of rapid running footsteps and the next thing he knew, he was flat on his back with Tails on top of him, clinging tightly.

"SONIC! You're back! You're back you're back you're back you're back you're _back_!"

"Uff. Ow." Sonic managed to prop himself up on one elbow and grin at the little fox, who was beaming from one ear to the other, both tails twining around each other in an ecstasy of delight. "Yeah, squirt, I'm back. You didn't doubt me, did you?"

Tails shook his head vigorously. "Nuh uh! I knew you'd be back 'cause I got the Chaos Emeralds!"

"Keep quiet about that, kiddo. And I didn't come back for the Emeralds; I came back for _you_."

"You _did_?"

"Sure I did."

Tails' ears drooped a little. "But how come you didn't take me with you, Sonic?"

Sonic winked at him. "Well…that would have spoiled the surprise, wouldn't it?"

"Surprise?" Tails' ears perked again, quivering slightly. "What surprise? Where is it? Where'd you get it from?" Grabbing the smirking hedgehog's arm, he tugged on it, trying to pull it out from behind Sonic's back. "C'mon Sonic, I wanna _see_!"

"It wouldn't be a surprise then, would it?" Sonic said lightly, shifting the object behind – or rather, underneath – his back.

Tails tried to peer underneath Sonic, but no matter how fast he moved or how innocently he sauntered around before turning and pouncing, the hedgehog was always there, blocking him. Eventually Tails gave up and slumped on top of Sonic, scowling at him.

"Sonic, if you don't show me that surprise right now, I'm never gonna play the Pounce Attack Game with you again! Not _ever_!"

Sonic quirked an eye ridge at him. "Oh really? That a promise, squirt?"

"Son–_ic_!"

The hedgehog grinned broadly. "What makes you think this surprise is for you, anyway?"

"'Cause you wouldn't lemme go with you to get it an' you can't surprise _yourself_, Sonic, 'cause that's jus' silly." Tails gave up attempting to peer over Sonic's shoulder. "You _gotta_ show me. I showed you my cave. _An_' my secret place."

"True, I guess. Okay." Sonic sat up, still twisting to block Tails' determined attempts to see round him. "I'll show you, but only if you stop racing around like that; you're making me nauseous."

Tails obeyed, freezing in the middle of a step. "Okay, but you gotta hurry 'cause I can't stand on one leg very long an' I don't wanna bang my knees again."

Sonic laughed. "Fair enough. Here." He pulled out Tails' toy and held it out to him.

Tails' face lit up, then abruptly dropped again. "I can't, Sonic. I've outgrew toys, 'member?"

Sonic shook his head. "Tails, you outgrow something when you no longer have fun with it, not when someone tells you to. Go ahead, squirt. Take it. I can't bring your cave and your secret place with me, but I can bring your super cool Sonic fighter ship." He winked.

Tails considered the toy, small face scrunched up in a thoughtful frown. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"Do _you_ like playing with my super cool Sonic fighter ship?"

The question caught Sonic off guard. "I...hadn't really thought about it."

"'Cause if you do, you gotta whump ol' Robotnik an'...well, mebbe I could look after it for you."

Sonic grinned broadly. "Sounds like a plan to me, kiddo. Here." He handed the toy to Tails, who grabbed it eagerly and started running around, zooming it through the air (with appropriate noises).

"Tails—" Sonic reached out and caught the little fox on his fourth circuit of the room— "Tails, we have to go."

They went, Sonic leaving some money on the table for the bed (after seeing the state of the kitchen and decided to skip the breakfast part) and headed for Aquatic Ruin Zone, Tails racing around Sonic and playing with his toy the whole way before finally coming to a stop and grabbing the hedgehog's hand.

"Sonic, you're the coolest! Firs' you whump ol' Robotnik six times, then you marry a Mobian princess, then you feed me an' lemme come with you to whump ol' Robotnik some more!"

Sonic shook his head, grinning. "Tails, I…what did you just say?"

"You feed me an' lemme come with you to whump ol' Robotnik some more?"

"Before that."

Tails frowned. "You whump ol' Robotnik six times?"

Sonic folded his arms. "Nice try, Tails. Somewhere between my whumping ol' Robotnik six times and my shovelling endless amounts of food into that fluffy bottomless pit you call a tummy—" he reached down to rub the fluffy bottomless pit in question, eliciting a giggle from the little fox— "in between those things you said something about me and a Mobian princess!"

Tails nodded. "Uh huh! 'Cause you were the prince of Green Hill Zone, an' you rescued the princess of Scrap Brain Zone an' now you're happily married! How come she didn't come with you, Sonic?"

"There is no princess, Tails! There never was!" Sonic shook his head. "I'm not married, I never was married and I don't intend to be either!"

Tails snorted. "Uh huh. Yeah, right, Sonic. I s'pose you're gonna be telling me now you're not the prince of Green Hill Zone."

"Tails, sure I grew up in Green Hill Zone—"

"Aha!"

"—but I am _not_ a prince! There are no princes and princesses in Mobius anymore, not unless you count the royals in the bee colonies and frankly, I think they only exist as a way of telling one bee apart from the next!"

Tails frowned, trying to understand this, then said, "You mean you're _not_ a prince?"

"I'm an orphan with no family who was raised by the parents of whichever friend I was squatting with at the time," Sonic said bluntly. "Usually Mighty, but I did spend some time with others as well. I never rescued anybody from Scrap Brain Zone because Robotnik – for some reason best known to himself – never fought me there. He ran away onto a platform which took both him and me up to Sky Base Zone. There was no battle in Scrap Brain, no prison egg and anyone who says otherwise is wrong!"

Tails' eyes grew huge. He'd picked out only two parts of this conversation and brought one of those up now.

"You're an _orphan_? Like me?"

"Yeah, like you," Sonic said shortly, "except I don't remember anything about my family. I don't even know how they died; it happened when I was about six months old." He looked away, then back at the fox as something occurred to him for the first time. "Tails, Metropolis Zone is on Westside Island, isn't it?"

Tails nodded. "Uh huh!"

"Oookay." Sonic frowned, deep in thought. "I think I might pay it a little visit at some point."

"How come?"

"I want to talk to the people who have been selling all this Sonic merchandise," Sonic said, an ominous note in his voice that Tails didn't pick up on, firstly because he was too young and secondly because they'd arrived on the outskirts of Aquatic Ruin and the fox's attention was distracted by a huge lake, one which surrounded pillars of some long-forgotten civilisation.

Tails' face split into a watermelon grin and he raced for the lake, leaping in and soaking Sonic from head to foot, then surfacing, doggypaddling determinedly.

"C'mon in, Sonic, the water's great!" He hesitated. "Sonic?"

The hedgehog was standing as far away from the lake as he could, arms folded and a strange look on his face.

"Sonic, c'mon!" Tails scrambled out of the water, seized Sonic by the hand and attempted to pull him towards it. "C'mon, let's go for a swim!"

"No!" Sonic jerked back so hard he almost yanked Tails off his feet. "No, I..." He hesitated. "I can't swim," he said eventually.

"Huh? You _can't_?" Tails looked completely and utterly thunderstruck. He'd never known there were people who couldn't swim. "I c'n teach you then," he bragged. "C'mon, it's easy." He grabbed both of Sonic's hands this time and tried to pull him along again.

"Tails, _no_!" Fear, _real_ fear, made the hedgehog's voice sharper than he'd intended and he twisted out of the fox's hold, crouching down to seize him hard by the arms. "No, no, _no_!" he repeated, punctuating each word with a shake for good measure. "I am _not_ gonna get in that water, not that water or any other water if it comes to it, and _nothing_ you do or say will make me!" He shook his head. "So don't ever, _ever _pull such a crazy stunt again, you got that straight? Because if you do, you're on your own, for _good_. I don't like water except as something to drink or shower in, I don't swim and if you _ever_ try to get me in it again..." He let the sentence trail off threateningly.

Tails whimpered. "You're hurting me."

Sonic blinked and noticed he was gripping the fox so tightly his fingers had all but disappeared into Tails' arms. Releasing him with a muttered, "Sorry," he turned and strode away, not looking around to see if the fox was following.

Tails sat down abruptly at the base of a pillar, rubbing his bruised arms tenderly. He'd never known Sonic could be like that, so rough, just like the mean kids who liked to pick on him.

_Maybe they're right_, he thought miserably. _Maybe Sonic just doesn't want to swim with a freak._

He shook his head. No, Sonic wouldn't think that, not _ever_! Besides, he'd had plenty of chances to leave Tails behind and the fox was still with him so it must have been something Tails himself had done.

With a long, loud sigh – having a best friend was more complicated than Tails had initially thought – the fox got to his feet and padded after Sonic.

He found him sitting on top of a huge, hollow tree trunk, one which was big enough to walk through (and big enough to hide a bot, as Tails found out to his cost; he was almost impaled on its nose before he saw it and leapt out the way with a startled _Yip_!

Sonic glanced around, saw Tails and looked away again. The little fox padded up, sat down next to him and leaned against him. Sonic didn't push Tails away, but he didn't return the hug either.

"I like you, Sonic," Tails said after a few minutes; he had no idea how else to start the conversation. "You're cool. An' it's okay if you don't wanna swim; you don't gotta. But…it could be kinda useful," he ventured. Sonic shot him a cold look.

"I don't doubt that, Tails, but the answer's still no."

"You..." Tails began, then stopped. If Sonic was talking to him again, he didn't want to mess it up.

"Go on," Sonic said coolly.

Tails looked into those jade eyes, then looked away and shook his head vigorously, pressing his lips together tightly. "Mm-mm."

"No, go on. I what?"

Tails opened his mouth, shut it, opened it again and finally blurted out, "You didn't have to _hurt_ me!" The tears of hurt betrayal that he'd managed to hold in until that moment finally spilled down his cheeks.

The hedgehog looked away, although whether that was because of contempt, shame or consideration Tails didn't know.

"No, I know," Sonic said very quietly. He looked back, looked Tails squarely in the eyes. "I'm sorry, kiddo, I really am. It's just..." He looked away again and sighed. "Just...don't try it again, okay? Like I said, I don't like the water."

Tails sniffed loudly, looked around for something to wipe his eyes and nose on and settled for the back of his arm.

"You didn't have to _shake_ me neither," he mumbled. "You could've jus' said no."

"I did just say no, Tails, and if you'd accepted that I wouldn't have lost it with you."

"So...you're never gonna swim? Never _never_?"

"Never, never, _never_," Sonic said emphatically, then softened. "But I'll tell you what. If I ever change my mind and want a swimming lesson after all, you'll be the first one I ask, okay?"

"Okay!" Gloom forgotten, Tails bounced up onto his feet. "C'mon Sonic! Let's go track down ol' Robotnik!"

"Sure," Sonic said with sub-zero enthusiasm. "Let's go and find out how he's planning to kill me this time."

"Great!" Impervious to Sonic's tone, Tails grabbed his hand and tugged him along the log. "C'mon!"

They'd been going about ten minutes when there was a sudden _zwip_, and Sonic grabbed Tails and leapt into the air as an arrow shot underneath them.

"Where the hell did _that_ come from?" he demanded, still holding Tails.

"From the pillar," Tails said, pointing helpfully to the pillar in question and regretting it instantly as Sonic stared down at him.

"You _knew_ about this?"

"Oh sure. I thought _everybody_ knew 'bout the arrow shooting pillars in Aquatic Ruin! They on'y shoot one way, though. Beak told me 'bout 'em; his family comes on holiday here loads. I miss him, Sonic."

"I know you do," Sonic said in tones of iron control. He told himself that no matter what happened, he would not lose it with Tails again, would _not_. His temper was already on a hair trigger, mostly due to the uncomfortable thought of all that water directly underneath him. If he fell…a chill ran down his back.

"Hey Sonic, there's a Star Post!" Tails said excitedly.

It says something for Sonic's current frame of mind that the journey into the Special Zone, a prospect which normally filled him with dread, came as a veritable relief. With the amount of rings he collected (and was it him or was that amount increasing every time they went in?) Sonic was also feeling in a good enough mood when he and Tails came out with the Chaos Emerald to actually enjoy the scenery…and taking the high route through the trees, he could see plenty of it. Vast lakes surrounded pillars, and Sonic could make out marble buildings under the water.

_This must have been a hell of a city._

The path sloped steeply downwards and Tails raced on past. He'd discovered that if he angled his namesakes just right, he could fly forward instead of up, and was always looking for good places to do this.

Shaking his head, Sonic followed him down and past a building that was – amazingly – still standing, at least on the bottom half.

Part of that wall crumbled suddenly as they went past it and a bot emerged, the same kind that had almost impaled Tails. Sonic leapt, more out of surprised reflexes than anything, landing squarely on the bot and putting it out of commission.

"Sonic!" Tails protested. "_I_ wanted to whump it!"

"You can whump the next one," Sonic said automatically. "C'mon."

Grumbling, Tails followed him, picking up the pace as they rounded the final lake and found themselves in grassy plains.

"Cool! C'mon Sonic, I'll race you!" Tails sped away and Sonic shook his head, grinning. He had to admit, Tails' speed was impressive. Nowhere near Sonic's – and frankly, the hedgehog was glad; he didn't know if he could handle competition – but fast enough.

Breaking into a run, he drew level with Tails in a few seconds and slowed to match the fox's speed. "That all you got, squirt?"

"I got _loads_ more!" Tails attempted to increase his velocity, and grinned. "Ha! See! I'm beating you, Sonic! I'm faster'n you!"

In fact, Sonic was slowly and deliberately dropping back in an effort to let the little fox win, and it might have worked if the ground hadn't suddenly started to buck and tremble underneath them, knocking them both off their feet.

"What's happening?" Tails yelped above the increasing rumble.

"I don't know." Sonic forced his own voice to remain calm. "I don't know." He did know one thing, however; he didn't like it.

The earth split in front and behind them, and two identical totem poles, both facing each other, both carved out of solid gray stone to represent four birds on top of each other.

"I see you've made it this far."

Sonic and Tails both looked up at Robotnik's hovering vehicle.

"Wow," Sonic said with heavy sarcasm. "Fancy seeing you here, doc. I'm guessing this is your handiwork?" indicating the totem poles with a hand.

Robotnik grinned evilly. "You flatter me, Sonic, but I'm afraid I can't take all the credit. These have been here since before you or I were born."

Sonic folded his arms. "Doc, they were still sacrificing virgins to bring back the sun when you were born, so that doesn't exactly narrow it down."

"Enough!" Robotnik spun his vehicle around. "So far you have survived, Sonic, but we'll just see how you fare against my Eggscoriator!"

"Your _what_?" Sonic and Tails said in unison.

In the cockpit, Robotnik grimaced. He really ought to have drawn the line at that name, but it had taken him a good while with a thesaurus to come up with it and he didn't want to waste it. Next time he was going to think of the name first and customise his Egg-O-Matic to fit!

Sonic folded his arms, staring coldly at Robotnik. "Look, I have been almost drowned and flattened twice, thought I'd escaped water Zones only to find this one's wetter than any of them—"

"You mean you didn't get a clue from the name?" Robotnik sneered.

"—so can we cut the preliminary chat?"

"What's pullinnominny?"

Robotnik smiled, ignoring Tails. "But of course. No doubt you have noticed the totem poles."

Since they were twelve feet tall, dark grey with what looked to Sonic like ducks carved into the sides, the hedgehog didn't see how he could have missed them, and so he also didn't see why he should dignify such an obvious statement with an answer.

"Part of the Zone's defence systems. Whoever lived here before really had some impressive security measures. These totems fire arrows from all four levels simultaneously. Of course, being as old as they are, they may require a little tap."

Sonic folded his arms. "And how are you going to give them that little tap, doc? Lean over and punch them?"

"I actually had a slightly more scientific method in mind, Sonic. Allow me to demonstrate." Robotnik pushed a button and there was a whining sound as a panel slid aside and a huge object emerged on a mechanical arm. Clicking and whirring, it slotted neatly into place, taking on the form of an enormous red and yellow mallet. Sonic stared at it.

"Jeez doc, subtlety really isn't your thing, is it?"

"Nobody ever took over the world by being subtle, Sonic," Robotnik informed him pleasantly. "Now, enough talking." Pushing the throttle forward, he glided over to one totem pole and flicked a button to bring the mallet crashing down onto the top. The pole juddered and fired a single arrow out of the uppermost totem. It was too high to hit Sonic or Tails, but it did give the Egg-O-Matic a nasty scrape on the underneath.

Sonic hesitated. He wasn't sure how to deal with this, and not least because he now had to worry about Tails, who was shrieking with laughter at Robotnik's expression.

The fox's mirth lasted as long as it took for Robotnik to decide to try his luck on the other totem. This one also only fired a single arrow, but it fired it out of the bottom one. Sonic jumped over it automatically, then heard a shrill yelp of pain from below and spun around in midair to see Tails curled up, clutching his shoulder tightly.

"_Tails_!" Sonic stared at the little fox cub, then fixed Robotnik with a diamond stare. "You're _dead_, you hear me? _Dead_!"

Truth to tell, Robotnik was slightly unnerved by Sonic's behaviour in this fight. Not because of any feelings of vulnerability on his part, but because he was used to Sonic as a reluctant combatant, one who only ever fought in self defence and who was pathetic enough never to actually kill Robotnik, since he was hanging onto a dream of the past and an equally pathetic hope that things could go back to how they were. A Sonic who made smart remarks, who actually made _death threats_ against him wasn't a Sonic he was used to facing, and therefore not a Sonic he had a foolproof method of dealing with either.

Well, his plan didn't seem to be going too badly – despite the fact that the totems were damaged enough to only fire one arrow instead of the original four! – and even if it didn't kill Sonic, pounding hell out of stone pillars with a great big mallet was doing wonders for his stress level.

Sonic leapt, but Robotnik had judged the distance just right this time; he was a little out of range. No matter how Sonic raced and jumped, he never quite managed to reach him, and several close escapes with ballistic arrows didn't make him eager to continue the experiment.

Another arrow, this one emerging from the bottom totem, jerked Sonic's attention back to the little fox on the ground. "Tails, look out!"

Tails leapt instinctively, landing on the arrow above him which was springy enough to catapult him further into the air. Curling automatically, he winced as he crashed into Robotnik's machine, bounced off and landed heavily on the ground.

Sonic stared at him. "That's _it_!" He broke into a run, leapt onto another arrow, sprang off and slammed into Robotnik as hard as he could, bouncing off him twice and landing gracefully, a motion that was only slightly spoiled by the fact that he had to hit the dirt a lot less gracefully in an effort to avoid the arrow shooting over his head.

If Robotnik had stopped and thought things through logically, the chances are he'd have been able to take care of at least Tails. He hadn't thought of Tails as a serious threat (despite losing two machines to him) hadn't viewed him as anything more than a nuisance and had never experienced such a coordinated attack either. Just when he was aiming to attack Sonic, Tails rammed him from the opposite side, jerking the targeting system off and by the time he'd recalibrated, Sonic was on him again, distracting his attention.

Another blow, this one knocking out the circuits on the entire left side. Robotnik had had enough. Time to rethink.

Pulling back, he started to speed away, but Sonic landed squarely on top of him and knocked out the few remaining circuits. With no power, Robotnik's vehicle started to fall and Sonic readied himself for a final blow, all the while hoping like hell he could bring himself to deliver it.

Thinking fast, Robotnik pushed a button and the mallet receded rapidly, evening out the weight distribution. That was better. Now for phase two.

Flicking switches, desperate to get away before Sonic hit him again, Robotnik switched to auxiliary power, hoping the stores hadn't been damaged.

No, they worked fine; he could feel his vehicle lifting into the air, out of Sonic's reach. Robotnik would have dearly loved to gloat over this fact, taunt his enemy a little, but didn't dare; the power would only last so long. He'd have to recharge and repair.

Accelerating as much and as quickly as he dared, Robotnik pulled away.

"No!" Watching the figure escape for the third time since he'd crashed on Westside Island, Sonic raced after him, only stopping when Robotnik went through a waterfall. Even the prospect of destroying the doctor wasn't enough to overcome Sonic's hydrophobia, and he trudged back to Tails, glancing over his shoulder every few steps just in case Robotnik was planning an ambush.

Tails was sitting on the ground again, examining the wound on his shoulder. It wasn't as bad as Sonic had feared; the arrowhead had sliced the little fox as it shot past, but the cut itself was only about half an inch deep.

Tails beamed up at Sonic, unaccountably pleased.

"I gotta war wound now, Sonic, look! I'm gonna get a scar an' drive all the girls crazy 'cause then they'll get locked up in a loonybin an' won't be able to take over the beach!"

"Here, let me see." Sonic bent over the wound in the fox's shoulder and grimaced. It was shallow, but still..."Rusty arrows...who knows what they put in here? We better get you a shot just to be on the safe side."

Tails yelped again and jerked away. "I don't wanna shot, Sonic! That's where you go to the doc an' he sticks loadsa needles in you! I been to the doc before, when my mum an' dad were still alive an' I'm not going back! He thinks I'm jus' a little fox-shaped pincushion!"

Sonic took a long, deep breath. "Tails, if you don't get a shot, you could get tetanus."

"I'd rather have tent puss than a shot! The doc said it wouldn't hurt but it _did_ an' I'm not gonna let him spike me again even if I do get tent puss! What's tent puss, Sonic?"

"Tetanus. It's nasty, kiddo; it attacks the central nervous system and makes your body jerk so badly you rip muscles and fracture bones. Then again, that's after your mouth stops working." Which, Sonic thought wryly, might not be such a bad thing.

"You c'n mend broken bones an' if we stick a tube in my mouth it'll freeze round that an' I can still breathe an' suck food up!"

"Tails..." Sonic held out a hand. "C'mon."

Tails took Sonic's hand readily enough, but then wrapped the other hand and both his legs around a tree and scowled determinedly at the hedgehog.

"I'm not gonna get a shot an' you can't make me!"

"Watch me, kiddo."

It wasn't an easy journey or even a particularly dignified one – Tails insisted on howling and yelping for most of it, and grabbing everything within reach when this failed to have any effect – but it _was_ fairly unobserved, at least until they reached the prison egg.

Still holding Tails, Sonic jumped up and hit the plunger, feeling the now familiar sensation as the metal warped, buckled and finally split under him. Leaping down, he nodded to the people who came out in a friendly fashion; Tails had stopped yelping half a mile back and was currently sitting on the floor, a scowling furry mass of dead weight.

"We're looking for a doctor," Sonic said.

"No we're not, Sonic," Tails spoke up somewhat hoarsely, "'cause I'm not gonna get a shot an' we can't waste the doctor's time, so we better jus' keep moving."

Ignoring him, Sonic looked at the crowd and raised his eye ridges. "Is there a doctor anywhere near here?"

"There's old Dr Bones," a heron said doubtfully. "I'm not sure he has the equipment for a shot—"

"Not gonna get a shot!"

"—but he's the best in the Zone. Down there and on the right. Robotnik never got him; I think he thought he was too old to be of much use and too old to escape either."

"Thanks." Sonic glanced back down at Tails. "C'mon squirt."

"_Not_ gonna get a shot!"

"Yes you are. C'mon, or do you want me to keep dragging you?"

Tails' face lit up. "Boy! I jus' thoughta something, Sonic!"

"Well, tell me about it on the way to the doctor's surgery."

The little fox shook his head. "That's what I wanna talk to you about, Sonic! I jus' 'membered I got a tent puss shot this morning! Yeah! So I don't gotta have another one, right? Right?"

"Nice try, kiddo. C'mon." Sonic hauled Tails along the dirt track, ignoring the little fox's loud yelps, and into the doctor's surgery.

The doctor, an elderly bear who had moved to Aquatic Ruin Zone for the swimming it offered, emerged at the sound of Tails' loud and extremely vocal protests, most of which ran along the lines of "Help, I'm being kidnapped!"

"Can we get a tetanus shot please?" Sonic asked, as politely as his fraying patience would allow.

"NOT gonna get a shot!"

"Tails, if you say that one more time…" Sonic let the sentence trail off threateningly.

Tails opened his mouth, shut it, thought for a few minutes and eventually came up with, "Won't have a shot!"

Still holding onto him, Sonic murmured something softly to the doctor, who nodded. Satisfied, the hedgehog looked back at the stubborn fox.

"Tails, I'm getting one too."

Tails broke off mid yelp and sniffled suspiciously. "You are?"

"Yeah, I am. Now stop howling and let the nice doctor get on with it!"

Tails scowled at the nice doctor in question. "Doctors aren't nice, Sonic. They stick needles in you an' make you drink medicine an' that's not nice 'cause medicine tastes bad and needles _hurt_!"

"That's not answering my question," Sonic said calmly, with an apologetic look to the doctor. "If I get a shot too, will you let the doctor give you one?"

Tails hesitated, then turned the scowl on Sonic. "On'y if you go first! 'Cause I been caught like that before an' I'm not gonna have a shot an' then you turn round and say you've changed your mind, an' I wanna _see_ it too!"

Sonic nodded once. He wasn't one to welsh on a deal, but Tails didn't know that. "Okay. It's a deal." He offered his arm to the doctor, who slid a needle in, depressed the plunger and withdrew it, tossing it into the trash.

It had been nothing more than ordinary water in that syringe – Sonic had had his own tetanus shot some time before – but it did the trick. Tails held out his arm, then snatched it back and looked at Sonic.

"Will you buy me something chocolate if I do this?"

"If you don't do it I'll never buy you anything chocolate again," Sonic retorted.

Tails yipped in alarm, then glared at the hedgehog. "You wouldn't!"

Sonic caught hold of Tails' arm and looked at the doctor. "Just do it, will you? We have to get to the next Zone as quickly as possible."

"No! Nononononono_nonono_—"

"Tails!" Sonic said sharply. The little fox broke off mid _no_ and scowled at him.

"What?"

"It's done."

Tails blinked. "It is?"

"Yes. It is."

"Oh. Okay." Tails pushed himself off the chair and bounded over to the door. "C'mon Sonic, let's go!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. He still wasn't entirely sure how he'd wound up with Tails, and also wasn't entirely sure whether it was worth it.

"Alright." He nodded goodbye to the doctor, who looked thoroughly relieved that they were leaving, and followed Tails out. "C'mon kiddo; I'll buy you a treat."

"Don't wanna treat," Tails muttered, scowling.

"You don't, huh?" Sonic pulled out the iced pella tart he'd bought when he'd been coming back from Emerald Hill Zone with Tails' toy. "So I guess I can eat this myself, huh?"

Tails' eyes lit up and he leapt for it, but Sonic held it out of reach.

"How about a please, Tails?"

"Please!"

"Please what?"

"Please gimme it!"

Sonic laughed. "Close enough. Okay squirt. Here." He handed the tart to Tails, who snapped it up in three bites, licking his lips to get the last of the icing.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"Am I gonna have to get a tent puss shot every time I get whumped with something metal?"

"No, kiddo, you're not. You won't need another tetanus shot for about ten years."

"Ten _years_!" Tails' eyes grew big; he wasn't used to considering such vast lengths of time. "How old will I be then, Sonic? How old will _you_ be? Will you be more'n a hundred?"

"Fourteen, twenty one and no, I won't, thankyou very much!"

"Where we heading now, Sonic?"

Sonic put a mock indignant look on his face and stared at the little fox. "You mean you don't know? You're supposed to be my guide! Which Zone are we going to next?"

"Erm…" Tails considered. "Oil Ocean?"

Sonic shook his head wryly. "Why doesn't that surprise me? Maybe I should get a map."

"Nuh uh!" Tails shook his head. "If you get a map you won't need me 'cause people with maps don't have guides an' I'll have to find somewhere else to live!"

Sonic took a long, deep breath. "Tails…are you planning on living with me for the rest of your life?"

Tails giggled. "Course not!" he said, and this might have reassured Sonic somewhat had he not then added, "On'y 'til I'm all growed up!"

"How long's that gonna be?"

"Oh don't worry; we got years an' years an' _years_ before that happens! Jus' 'magine, Sonic; you an' me, a team forever an' ever!"

_Yeah,_ Sonic thought numbly. _Just imagine._

It wasn't that he disliked Tails; quite the reverse. After all, he'd have died in Chemical Plant Zone if it hadn't been for the little fox.

Sonic slowed down, staring at nothing as this hit him for the first time.

_He would have died._ If he hadn't had Tails, if he hadn't taken him with him…like it or not, Sonic now owed this stubborn little fox with two tails his life.

Sonic shivered. That was a sobering thought. He remembered lying crouched in a thicket in Jungle Zone, hiding from a bot and terrified that it was going to find him, trembling so much he'd almost made the leaves rustle. He'd made a wish then, wished like hell just to have someone else to help him out. Actually, he'd wished for Mighty, but the armadillo hadn't been around then. An orphaned two-tailed fox cub who had latched onto him like a limpet hadn't been exactly the kind of help Sonic had had in mind, but it had paid off.

"Sonic?"

Sonic blinked back to the present and glanced down at an anxious Tails, forced a smile.

"I'm okay, kid. I'm okay. Just…thinking about something, that's all."

"Something bad?"

Sonic closed his eyes and pushed his memories of events in the Jungle Zone back into darkness, where they belonged before saying, "Yeah. Something very bad."

"What?"

The hedgehog opened his eyes, forced another smile. "Nothing important, kiddo. I'll tell you when you're older."

The little fox sighed gustily. "That's what _ev'ryone_ says but I wanna know _now_, Sonic!"

"No, Tails."

Tails shut up. There was no anger in Sonic's voice, it wasn't even cold, but something in it and the hedgehog's expression…Tails didn't know the word _haggard_, else he might have felt it the only description which really fitted Sonic's demeanour.

"I think I see the edge of the Zone," he said, after half an hour had gone past in silence.

Sonic jumped – the memory of Jungle Zone hadn't wanted to stay down, and it had brought some other memories from Green Hill and Bridge Zone to keep it company – then glanced down at Tails, thankful for the distraction. "Yeah? Where?"

Tails pointed. "Jus' up there!"

Sonic followed the little fox's finger and felt a grin spread over his face. "A Casino Zone, huh?" Looking back down at Tails, his grin widened. "You feeling lucky, squirt?"

"Yup!"

"Great! Let's go!" Who knew, perhaps Robotnik hadn't taken the Casino Zone. Perhaps they could have a little fun.

Sonic picked up the pace. After Chemical Plant and Aquatic Ruin, he was looking forward to this Casino Zone.

Okay, 'nother one done! (NB: Forestalling potential squawks, I will add that I know it's Casino _Night_ Zone; this was a deliberate mistake on my part. You'll see why next episode ;)) Hope you enjoyed it and if you read, please review!


	10. Casino Night Zone

**Sonic-Addict: Thanks :) (_Tails: MEEP!_) Aw, you scared him, talking about needles and shots like that :P**

**Private somebody: Thanks, glad you're enjoying it :P Heh, as far as reviews go the longer the better as far as I'm concerned :P Labyrinth boss in _Sonic 1_...never played the Genesis version but I didn't have much of a problem with Master System. Jungle boss on the other hand... ;)**

**As for the rest of it, no, Knuckles will not be putting in an appearance in this fic since this is written according to the original game, not with any add-ons or debugs or cheats. Knuckles isn't introduced until Sonic 3 ;) Super Tails, again no, for the same reasons...also, I like to keep the idea of going Super fairly exclusive to Sonic. A four year old going Super...can you imagine:P**

**Awdures: (grins) Thanks...Robotnik's thesaurus is based on my own experience...coming up with individual and appropriate egg-related names for a load of doomsday devices isn't as easy as I first thought :P**

**Asher Tye: This is very true ;) Sonic...well, he's not an airhead, but I just think that if anyone has as much contact with metal as he does, he's likely to find out about tetanus :P**

**Professor Vengeance: (blushes) Thanks :) And feel free to repeat yourself if you want :P**

**Bang: Mine too! Or at least, second favourite ;)**

**Shadow-spawn180: Yep, Casino Night Zone's up next :P**

**Hawk's Soul: Well...my plan isn't all that dramatic or special, it just fits with my own personal view of the Zone :P Yeah, Sonic was kinda scary when he told Tails off, though I guess Sonic himself was equally scared at the thought of swimming with Tails :P The shot thing...yeah, Tails is kinda cute ;)**

**Myuu-san: (blushes again) Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it :D (And thanks for the second half of your review; I admit I read the first part and thought...huh?) ;)**

**Poridet: (scuffs toe in best Tails impression) Wow...thanks :)**

**HBKJOH: Sonic is fairly close to telling Tails to get lost at times, yes. He's torn between liking his privacy, liking Tails, wanting to keep him out of the fighting and wanting to protect him but not wanting to send him back to Emerald Hill Zone and also not knowing what else to do with him. **

**FriedBrickWall: Yes, Sonic is eleven...it's mentioned once or twice I think (can't be bothered to reread just now :P) SA2...no, no story in the works, for two reasons; 1, I've never played it (though I'm hoping Sega will release it on PC like they did SA1) and 2, adapting more story-based games isn't as much fun; I have to keep to the game script and don't get as much creative licence :P**

**D.C.111: Thanks :) Yeah, if I have Tails as four, Sonic has to be eleven. That's just how it goes :P **

**TrueVulcanRaven: Thanks, I'll try :)**

**Lewisty: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :D**

"What do you mean, underage?" Sonic demanded.

The bouncer on the entrance to the upper Casino levels remained unimpressed. "Just what I say. The above levels are out of bounds to all those under the age of fourteen, national heroes or not. Bingo is a very dangerous game; the mortality rate hovers right around forty percent."

"Ah, nuts." Sonic slumped down, muttering to himself.

"Even if I did let you in, there's the matter of your friend." The bouncer nodded towards Tails. "This is a casino, not a creche."

Sonic looked up at him. "Look. I can't explain right now because I don't have time, but we really, _really_ need to get to the other side of this Zone."

The bouncer shrugged. "Not my problem. You want to get to the other side, use the lower levels; they don't have an age restriction. Casino Night would be your best bet. You can cut through there. I wouldn't advise it though; there've been some strange things going on. Makes me glad I work the upper levels."

Sonic took a deep breath. "If what's going on is what I think, working upper levels won't save you. We have to get through _now_."

Another shrug. "Go through Casino Night, if it's so desperate. Letting a couple of little kids through isn't worth my job."

"How 'bout your life?" Tails demanded belligerently. "Is it worth _that_?"

The gorilla shifted position. "Are you _threatening_ me?"

"No, he's not," Sonic said tiredly. Damn, he should have thought of this beforehand. "Alright. Fine. How do we get to Casino Night from here?"

"Over there. Take the elevator all the way to the bottom. When the doors open, follow the signs."

"Thanks. C'mon squirt."

"I got my eye on you!" Tails said boldly to the gorilla, who looked unfazed.

"Come _on_." Sonic grabbed Tails' hand and practically hauled him into the elevator, pushing the button labelled G. "And Tails, it's not nice to threaten people who are three times the size of you. And me," he added under his breath.

"He shouldn't've been mean to you! You're Sonic the hedgehog!"

"He wasn't mean to me, kiddo, he was just doing his job. Besides, you'd have to be nuts to attack someone his size."

"Sonic, am _I_ nuts?" Tails asked.

Sonic quirked an eye ridge at him as he stepped through the now opened doors. "No, Tails; _you_ are completely and utterly psychotic."

Tails frowned perplexedly. "What's pie sottic?"

"Never mind. C'mon." Sonic held out a hand and Tails raced to grab it, swinging it happily as they walked into Casino Night Zone.

"It's real dark here, huh Sonic?"

Sonic glanced at Tails, somewhat quizzically. With all the lights, neon signs and slot machines, 'dark' wasn't the first description that sprang to his mind. "You think so?"

Tails nodded. "Uh huh. 'Cause the sky's all black but there's no stars. Look." He pointed up and Sonic followed his gaze.

"Oh yeah, I see." He grinned. "That's a hologram. Casino Zones are all like that; they have fake night twenty four seven."

"How come?"

"They want you to lose track of time and spend as much money here as possible," Sonic said succinctly. "That's why you'll never find any clocks in here either." He looked around. "Besides, dark surroundings make it easy to see the lights." The hedgehog sighed. He wished they could have gone up to the higher levels. The view up there must be spectacular…

"Wow! Look at _that_, Sonic!"

Sonic glanced at the fox, followed his pointing finger and caught sight of the robot crawling towards them. He frowned; it was a completely new robot. New robots meant new threats, ones that Sonic hadn't yet developed counterattacks for.

_Well, he's not likely to use the ones that you smashed last time, is he?_ something inside him whispered.

"C'mon Sonic, let's whump it!" Tails started towards the robot, but Sonic held him back.

"Let's _not_. Or at least, let's not _you_ whump it."

Tails frowned. "How come not?"

"Because...because..." Sonic racked his brains frantically, trying to come up with a reason that Tails would understand and accept at face value without arguing. "Because you whumped the last one."

"An' I'm gonna whump this one too!"

So much for reason. Sonic caught hold of one of Tails' ankles and dug his heels in as the fox took off, and the little fact that this caused him to be dragged behind Tails in a kind of water-skiing position only increased his irritation.

Tails might well have pulled Sonic through the entire Zone – for a little guy, he sure was strong, Sonic thought grimly – but at that point the fox's sneaker came off, causing Sonic to shoot backwards and Tails forwards.

Picking himself up, Sonic raced towards the bot again, leaping to the top of the platform just in time to take a two-tailed fox to the midriff, the resultant lack of friction in the air sending him flying all the way back to the elevator.

"Wow!" Tails said again, beaming as he got to his feet. "That was the best pounce attack _ever_, Sonic! Let's go back to the robot an' do it again!"

"Let's _not_, okay?" Sonic croaked. Tails' attack had knocked the wind out of him and for long minutes all he could do was lie there and gasp for breath.

"Aw, c'mon Sonic!" Tails leapt into the air, landing on the hedgehog's stomach.

"Tails, _no_. Not now." Sonic managed to slide out from under him. "Just...lemme get my breath back, okay?"

Worried now, Tails scrambled off – accidentally placing another foot squarely in the hedgehog's chest – and padded up to peer down into Sonic's face.

"Sonic? Sonic, did I hurt you? Please say I didn't, I don't wanna hurt you."

"No." Sonic managed to suck a small amount of air into his lungs. "No, kiddo, you didn't hurt me. Just...let me lie here a few minutes, okay?"

"'Kay." Tails sat down next to Sonic, got up, spent at least ten seconds attempting to sneak up and pounce on his own shadow and then raced back to the hedgehog. "Is it a few minutes yet?"

"No."

"Oh. Okay." Tails played with his namesakes for a few seconds. "How 'bout now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"_No_," Sonic grated. "Look, I'll tell you when it's a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay. I'll guard you from bots!" Tails started striding up and down...or to be more accurate, round and round, making three full circuits of the hedgehog's prone form before flinging himself down. "Is it a few minutes _now_?"

Sonic closed his eyes. "I said I'd tell you when it was up, didn't I?"

"Oh sure, but it's been _ages_ an' I thought mebbe you'd forgot. How 'bout now?"

"Tails?" Sonic said very patiently.

"Yup?"

"The few minutes only count if you're _quiet_. You know what quiet means?"

Tails jammed small paws on hips and fixed Sonic with his very best glare.

"_Course_ I do!"

"Don't say it like that, kiddo; from what I've heard so far, you don't seem to do it much."

Tails sighed gustily. "Being quiet's _boring_, Sonic. I wanna go back an' bounce on that bot some more!"

"No."

The fox sighed again, louder this time. "You're no fun anymore, Sonic."

"Combat isn't about _fun_, Tails. I don't want you to get hurt, and if you go against a strange bot by yourself, chances are that's what's gonna happen."

Tails plopped down by Sonic with a glum look on his face. "But I'm _bored_."

Sonic somehow found the strength to sit up. "I'll be ready in a couple minutes, Tails."

"Is a couple more or less than a few?"

"Less."

"_Yeah_!" Tails punched the air triumphantly. "C'mon then, let's go!"

"In a little while." Sonic's lungs seemed to be working alright now, but he wasn't taking any chances. If he was going up against robots again, he wanted to be in the peak of health. "Sing a song or something if you're bored."

Tails' ears drooped. "You said I had to be quiet, Sonic, an' I on'y know two songs."

"Singing doesn't count as making a noise if you do it quietly." Sonic was talking more or less at random, trying to distract Tails long enough to recover.

"Oh. Okay." Tails took a deep breath. "Ten billion green bottles hanging on the wall. Ten billion green bottles hanging on the wall, an' if one green bottle should ax'dentally fall, there'll be...uh...nine billion nine hundred million nine hundred an' ninety nine thousand nine hundred an' ninety nine green bottles—" he took another deep breath— "hanging on the wall. Nine billion nine hundred—"

"What's the other song you know?" Sonic interrupted. Tails hesitated.

"Well...I dunno all the words an' I dunno what they mean, but the tune's real nice, Sonic. You want me to sing that one?"

Not really. Sonic wanted some peace and quiet, but at least if Tails was singing the hedgehog wouldn't have to answer the little fox's numerous questions.

"Sure, go for it," he said easily.

"Okay!" Tails frowned as he tried to remember the words, then opened his mouth. "Well, I was walking through the park an' my daily life it sucked, so I went on my first date an' I got well an' truly—"

"Yeah, you know what?" Sonic said suddenly, forcing himself to his feet and cutting Tails off. "I think I'm good to go now. C'mon."

"Yeah!" Tails seized Sonic's hand again and tugged him along. "Let's go! I wanna bounce on the bot some more!"

"Tails..." Sonic slowed. "Tails, where'd you learn that song?"

Tails' small face scrunched up in a frown as he thought. "Back home. I used to wait round the back of a bar though 'cause they throw out some real neat food, Sonic, an' they used to sing it late at night. Don't you like it, Sonic?"

"Not...exactly, no," Sonic said evasively. In fact, he did like the song – it had a catchy tune and the lyrics appealed to his distinctly unrefined tastes – but the idea of a four year old singing it didn't do a great deal for him.

"Oh. Okay." Tails took off, carrying Sonic underneath him and dropping him just in front of the bot before landing on top of it and bouncing off the large bumpers. "C'mon Sonic, this is fun!"

Sonic eyed the bot nervously. It wasn't doing anything except crawling, but he thought that could probably change at any minute. Should he risk a spindash?

He was just about making up his mind to try it when Tails settled the matter for him by misjudging one landing and coming down hard on top of the robot, putting it out of action and then looking down at it despondently.

"Nice one," Sonic said.

"But I didn't wanna whump it, Sonic. I liked that bot, it was fun." Tails' ears drooped as they walked along and didn't lift again until they reached a huge, brightly lit machine with a grid halfway up. "Wow! What's _that_?"

"Slot machine," Sonic said briefly; he'd never had much luck with them and would have preferred to have tried the bingo slides.

"What does it do?"

"You get in that grid and if the symbols match, you win..." Sonic frowned slightly, voice trailing off.

"Win what? Huh? What do you win? C'mon Sonic, what do you _win_?" Tails was bouncing up and down eagerly.

"Rings," Sonic said, staring. He supposed it made a strange kind of sense – there were enough lying around, after all – but since when had _rings_ been a substitute for good ol'-fashioned Mobiums?

"_Cool_!" Tails bounced into the air again, and this time he didn't come down but flew straight for the grid, dropping neatly into it. As Sonic watched, the wheels clicked in to reveal three rings in a row, and at least ten cascaded down on top of the little fox, who managed to gather them all up just before the bottom of the grid slid open and dropped him to the ground, where the hedgehog was waiting.

"I winned! Didja see me, Sonic? I winned all these rings!" Tails held out his winnings, beaming. "I'm gonna go win some more!"

Turning, he raced back and flew into the grid. Sonic shook his head, grinning as he watched the wheels spinning. The chances of Tails pulling off another jackpot win were below negligible.

The grin abruptly vanished as one of the wheels clicked into place to reveal Robotnik's face, followed by a second and then a third. This time, what looked like spiky magnets dropped into the grid, pulling all the rings away before dumping Tails unceremoniously onto the ground again.

"He-e-ey!" Tails scowled up at the machine. "Gimme back my rings!"

Sonic caught hold of him as the little fox raced past. "Leave it, kiddo. You lost, that's all."

"Don't wanna lose! Make it gimme back my rings, Sonic!"

"Nobody ever wants to lose, squirt," Sonic said lightly. "And I can't make it do anything; it's a machine. C'mon, let's keep moving, okay?"

"You got it. I don't wanna play this anymore anyway." Tails looked back at the machine, made the same hand gesture at it he'd often received from the jackal back in Emerald Hill Zone and blew a raspberry at it.

"Tails!" Scandalised, Sonic seized the fox's hand and returned it firmly to its owner's side. "Don't _ever_ do that again, not where people can see you! You don't even know what it means!"

Tails blinked up at Sonic. "Sure I do, it means you don't like someone."

"It's a little stronger than that, kiddo."

"It is? Is it like telling someone to piss off?"

"Stronger even than that, Tails, and that's another thing; don't say that around people either. They'll think I taught it to you."

Tails' eyes widened, then he turned to the nearest family and said loudly, "'Sokay, Sonic didn't teach me to say piss off, I learned it all by myself!"

"Oh brother." Sonic collapsed onto a blue square in the floor, head in his hands. "Tails, do you practise being embarrassing, or is it a natural talent?"

"What?"

"Never mind. What do you say we—hey!" Movement from underneath caught the hedgehog off guard as the block he was sitting on slid up towards the ceiling. Looking up, Sonic felt his blood run cold. It...surely it wasn't going to crush him against the ceiling, was it?

To his relief, it started to descend again, Tails leaping onto it as soon as it was low enough.

"Sonic, are you okay? Did you get squished?"

Sonic shook his head. "I'm okay, lil buddy. It just surprised me, that's all." Leaping neatly off, he saw another identical block rising and falling up ahead and groaned. "Just what are these doing here, anyway?"

Tails shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe they were gonna put something else up there on'y they forgot. C'mon." Grabbing Sonic's hand, he pulled him over the second block and on through the Zone until they wound up in a narrow shaft with what looked like a spring at the bottom.

Tails frowned. "What's this?"

"Some kinda spring, I guess."

The frown deepened. "Well, sure it _looks_ like a spring but it's not bouncy. How come it's not bouncy, Sonic?"

"I don't know," Sonic admitted. "Maybe we have to compress it somehow."

"What's compress?"

"Just...hang on." Sonic curled up and started spinning, feeling with some gratification the spring begin to grind down underneath him.

"_Cool_!" Tails rolled into a ball and attempted to emulate Sonic, but had to give up, partly because his first spin attack had propelled him forward about three feet into the wall but mostly because Sonic inadvertently chose that moment to stop spinning and the spring fired back up, propelling them through a vertical shaft and round a loop before spitting them out into what looked like several shallow triangles.

Tails landed on one of them and yipped in surprise and delight as it propelled him a full ten feet into the air, ricocheted him off another bumper and a large blue block (although that wasn't as much fun because it wasn't all bouncy) and finally back down to the triangles again.

"Whee! Hey Sonic, c'mon, you gotta try this, you gotta—" One of Tails' bounces took him a little too far to the right, sending him back down the same passage they'd only just left. A few minutes later, he reappeared, both namesakes spinning determinedly before giving out and sending him to crash down on the bumper again.

Sonic, meanwhile, had spotted two of the same blue blocks – they seemed to be the main form of transport around here, along with the elevators – sailing from side to side above him and was desperately trying to bounce high enough to get a foothold on one of them. He succeeded eventually, but only because Tails had flown up to ride on one and pulled the hedgehog up.

"Thanks." Breathless – it wasn't often he was bounced off every available surface – Sonic looked around.

_Now where_?

He broke into a jog, not too fast for Tails to keep up, and kept jogging until the ground sloped steeply away to form what looked like an enclosed rectangle, albeit one with rounded ends. There was no way forward.

"We must've taken a wrong turn," Sonic said aloud.

"Whatcha mean, _we_?" Tails panted indignantly from some ten yards behind him. Contrite, Sonic turned.

"I'm sorry, squirt. I forgot you were beat. C'mon, we might as well rest down there as up here; at least it's not so closed in."

Later, he would wonder how he could have been so stupid. How often did a corridor lead to an empty room and a dead end?

As it was, he didn't realise how much trouble they were in until the now familiar purr of Robotnik's engine sounded and the doctor pulled into sight.

Sonic closed his eyes. "Oh, look who it is."

Next to him, Tails' jaw dropped. "Wow! What'd you do to your flying ball thingy?"

Robotnik grinned. "I thought it might be a good idea to fix it up with some camouflage."

Which was all very well, Sonic thought, until you took into consideration the little fact that the camouflage in question was nothing more than slender neon lights wrapped around the base and a large star affixed to the top, all cycling through colours at a frantic rate around a giant egg-shaped grey transport containing an equally egg-shaped occupant with what looked like two bright yellow prongs underneath.

"How tacky can you get?" Sonic said disbelievingly. "What d'you call that thing, anyway?"

"This is my Eleggtrocutor."

"Eleggtrocutor, huh?" Sonic said flatly. "And lemme guess, you're gonna try and zap us with it?"

"The name does spoil the surprise, I grant you," Robotnik conceded, "but it was this or the Eggsploitation Device."

"Eggsploitation Device?" Sonic echoed. "What's _that_ do, steal my bank account details and try to kill me through poverty?"

"There are far richer people than you on Mobius, Sonic. Unless circumstances have changed drastically, I very much doubt whether you have a Mobium to your name. You never were much good at money management and so I would probably spend far more building such a machine than I would receive."

For the first time when facing Robotnik, Sonic grinned broadly. "That was then, doc. This is now."

Robotnik was right, of course; Sonic had taken all his own money when he'd left the Green Hill Zone, all three hundred and twenty seven Mobiums of it, and now he had about thirteen left.

"Yeah!" Tails bounded up, flying on an eye level with Robotnik. "An' Sonic's gonna whump you good, Robotnik!"

"I'll believe that when I see it, cub," Robotnik sneered.

"You _already_ seen it loadsa times," Tails protested, "so when're you gonna start believing it?" He shook his head. "You're really dumb for a genius, aren't you?"

There was a shift of the moustache that suggested Robotnik had curled his lip. "I grow tired of this immature banter. You may have won previous battles, Sonic, but I think you'll find that this is where you lose the war."

"You always were melodramatic, doc," Sonic said coolly. "Shall we begin?"

Without waiting for a reply, he leapt towards the machine and almost got hit by what looked like a red spiky ball that dropped out of the bottom and exploded on the ground.

"I thought you said this thing used electricity!" he shouted up at Robotnik, who grinned down at him.

"Oh, but it does, Sonic. All machines like this one rely on batteries, which in turn rely on electricity. You never were a great one for science, were you?"

Ice shot down Sonic's spine, effectively fusing it. Was Robotnik planning to reveal their shared past? Here, in front of Tails?

There was a scuffling sound as Tails raced past him. His relatively easy victories in Emerald Hill and Chemical Plant had made him overconfident, and so he leapt for Robotnik's machine, aiming to hit it underneath.

Electrical current leapt from one prong across to the other, catching Tails in the blast and making him yelp shrilly. Dropping to the ground, he whimpered as electrical currents continued to flicker and play in his fur.

"How's that for electricity, Sonic?" Robotnik called from above. "Is that enough, or do you want me to do it again?"

Sonic stared up at him balefully, then shifted his gaze past Robotnik to the large bumper he was currently hovering underneath and his eyes narrowed. Thanks to his time in the Special Zones back in the first fight, he'd learned the physics of bumpers and hedgehogs very, very quickly. Incorporating one of the flippers was simple enough; Sonic managed to hit the bumper at the exact angle and land on top of the machine. This time, instead of attempting to hammer it into submission, he dropped into the cockpit just in front of Robotnik and started to burrow through the controls.

Robotnik, however, hadn't come unprepared for such an occurrence – he'd learned very quickly in previous fights against Sonic that the hedgehog would literally try anything to win – and so he reached down, located a lever by the side of his seat and pulled it hard, diverting the electricity from the two prongs to the control panel and blasting Sonic through the air and into the wall.

The hedgehog slithered down, not dead, not even badly hurt, but too dazed to attack again.

Although the Egg-O-Matic was still running reasonably smoothly (or as smoothly as any machine could be expected to run after being pounded constantly by a living buzz saw) Robotnik saw no reason to continue the fight...not to mention the little fact that he didn't think Sonic was stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice.

A slight smile flickered over the doctor's face. No, there was no point killing Sonic now. He had a little surprise waiting for Sonic in Hill Top Zone and wanted to make sure it was ready; it was a much more pleasing prospect than just blowing the hedgehog up.

Besides, he'd just run out of bombs.

Robotnik pulled up and sped away. He'd learned his lesson from the last battle and had taken time to encase his engine and power source in a near-unbreakable substance inside the Egg-O-Matic; there was no way he was going to get caught by something as trivial as a power failure _this_ time!

For once Sonic didn't chase him, partly because he was still smarting from the electricity and partly because he wanted to check on Tails.

Dropping to one knee next to the fox, he put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Tails nodded. He was still jittering slightly, although Sonic didn't know whether that was due to adrenaline, electricity, nerves or a combination of all three.

"Uh huh! I'm okay!"

"You sure?" Sonic said dubiously; Tails' tones were much the same as he'd used when telling the gang back in Emerald Hill Zone that what they'd done to him was a 'real good joke'.

"Sure I'm sure! Can we go free the people now?"

Sonic gave up. "Okay. C'mon."

He and Tails raced up and through the far wall, which had risen up into the ceiling as though it had never existed, and on to the Egg Prison.

"Uh." Tails hesitated. "You wanna do this one, Sonic?"

Sonic quirked an eye ridge at him. "How about we do it together?"

"Yeah!" Tails caught hold of the hedgehog, taking him by surprise, then lifted him into the air and dropped him squarely on the plunger.

"Not quite what I meant," Sonic informed the little fox as he leapt to the ground just in time to be seized by the first of the newly freed prisoners and hugged so tightly he thought his brains were about to squirt out his ears, as Tails had once so aptly put it.

"Thankyou! Thankyou so much, you saved us!"

"'Sokay," Sonic choked, while wondering how offended this person was likely to be if he struggled out of their grasp enough to breathe. Fortunately, Tails swooped down to his rescue, announcing to all and sundry, "Yeah, an' I'm his sidekick!" and diverting Sonic's hugger long enough for the hedgehog to wriggle free.

"Can someone please tell me what the next Zone is?"

He regretted it a moment later, as he was bombarded with different answers from all directions and groaned.

_Should've known better than to ask a tourist. Oh well. Guess I'll find out soon enough_.

One of the residents stepped carefully around the group of kids now clustered beneath Tails, who was regaling them with the story of how he'd whumped Robotnik (mostly accurate, although there was some snappy repartee on Tails' part that Sonic didn't seem to remember being in the actual fight) and came to stand in front of the hedgehog.

"You mean you're not sticking around?"

Sonic shook his head. "Love to, but can't. I gotta keep moving. Robotnik's still out there, and I have to find him."

"Your sidekick could probably use a nap though. I'm the manager of one of the top hotels in the Zone. Why don't you at least stay the night, spend a little time here?"

Sonic hesitated, sorely tempted, then shook his head. "Sorry, I can't. Besides, I don't have that kind of money."

"Free of charge. You have to spend the night somewhere, why not here?"

The hedgehog glanced up at Tails. "What do you think, squirt?"

"—an' then ol' Robotnik fired three, no, _four_ great big cannons at me an' I zipped outta the way like this an' kicked one, punched the other an' zipped back to save Sonic from ol' Robotnik's death ray an'—"

"Yeah, well, zip down here a minute, would you?" Sonic interrupted. "C'mere and tell me if you wanna spend the night in a top hotel."

"Sure!" Tails yawned and immediately tried to hide it. "Jus' as soon as I finish telling these guys all 'bout Robotnik an' his six great big cannons!"

"It was four a minute ago," Sonic couldn't resist pointing out. Tails squirmed.

"Yeah...but I jus' 'membered he brought two more out while I was...was..."

"Saving me from his death ray?" Sonic offered pleasantly, causing the little fox to squirm some more.

"Well...uh..." The rest of his words were lost in another yawn, one which made up Sonic's mind and he turned back to the manager.

"Yeah. Thanks; a little time out would really hit the spot." He looked up at Tails. "C'mon kiddo, it's been a long day and it's time you got some sleep."

Tails protested that he could go much longer without sleep (though it was okay if Sonic wanted a rest) but he didn't put up much of a fight when Sonic pulled him down from the air and carried him, and he was all but asleep in the hedgehog's arms by the time they reached their hotel room.

"I'm gonna go play one or two of those slot machines, okay kiddo?" Sonic said, once Tails was in bed – and had insisted on being tucked in by the hedgehog – and half asleep again.

"'Kay. You're gonna come back, though, right Sonic?"

"Yeah, you bet I am." Sonic reached down to ruffle the fur between Tails' ears.

"C'n I still look after the Em'ralds? 'Cause, you know, you might drop them when you're playing an' I don't want anyone stealing 'em."

"Sure." Sonic passed four of the five Emeralds over to Tails, who stuffed three under his pillow and snuggled up to the fourth, cuddling it like a plush toy. "You take good care of them, okay squirt?"

Tails nodded sleepily, then yawned so wide that the hedgehog could see down the back of his throat. He was already asleep by the time Sonic reached the door and slept right through that night and the following day, finally waking up at quarter to six in the evening. Sonic was nowhere to be seen, and Tails' trepidation at this was only alleviated when he found the Chaos Emeralds still under his pillow. Sonic wouldn't have gone without those, no way!

Looking around, Tails' gaze fell upon the telephone and he brightened up. Sonic must still be out playing and winning loads of rings, and that meant he was probably going to be real hungry when he got back. The hedgehog had looked after him all this time, and Tails wanted to do something to give him a nice surprise. He could get Sonic a big dinner and if the hedgehog didn't come back in time to eat it, well, Tails could always eat it for him and try again the next night.

Picking up the phone, he frowned as he heard the dial tone, then caught sight of the card next to it and inspiration struck. He couldn't find the word _food_ anywhere, but there was something else that said _room service_, which probably meant they sent servants to your room and those servants would feed you.

Happy now, and feeling very proud of himself for having worked this out, Tails dialed 192.

"Hi, I'm in room 1012 an' I wanna have some food." Remembering what Sonic had told him back in Aquatic Ruin Zone, he added, "please."

Beaming, he focused on the menu, skipping over the words he didn't know and hugging himself. Boy, Sonic was sure gonna get a surprise!

---

It was actually the second surprise Sonic got that day, the first being that he'd lost over twenty four hours doing nothing but play the slots, and the only reason that it hadn't stretched into forty eight was because he'd overheard a family talking about packing to check out the next day and – more out of idle curiosity than anything – had asked them what time they were leaving, and the father's comment about 'only visiting from Friday to Monday' had rung loud alarm bells in the hedgehog's mind.

He sighed. It was easy to see how you could become addicted to this...in fact, if he hadn't had Tails to look after...

Sonic froze, guilt sloshing through him. Tails. Oh man, all this time, how could he have forgotten Tails?

Turning, he sped away, not bothering with the door but accelerating straight up the side of the hotel to the top and through the window, which he had instructed Tails never, ever to close in case the hedgehog had to do...well, what he was doing now.

Lying on the bed, surrounded by what looked like an entire restaurant's worth of food, Tails waved at him. "Hi Sonic!"

Sonic stared around at the food. "Where'd all this come from?"

"Room fervif," Tails said around a mouthful of chips.

"_What_?"

Swallowing with a visible effort, Tails nodded. "Yup! I ordered it an' said I was your sidekick an' that you'd prob'ly pay, an' they said they wouldn't dreama asking Sonic to pay. Cool, huh?" He picked up a chocolate milkshake and hoovered noisily around the bottom with a straw.

Sonic sat down and dropped his head into his hands.

"Why can't I have a _normal_ sidekick like all the other heroes?" he muttered, too quietly for Tails to hear, then looked up at him. "Tails, you cannot use my name to get free food!"

Tails frowned. "Huh? How come not? I got you some too, Sonic, look." He offered Sonic a chilli dog. "They don't usually do these but when I 'splained that it was your favouritest food, they made some jus' for you. An' I had some caviar too. Sonic, why do people wanna pay so much for eating salty jelly? An' what's so special 'bout champagne? It tastes weird an' makes my nose all tingly."

Sonic stared dully at the little fox. "Tails, tell me you did _not_ order caviar and champagne!"

"Uh...well, I would, but it said on that commercial that you liked people to tell the truth, Sonic."

"You're four years old! How the _hell_ did you persuade them to give you a glass of champagne?"

Tails, aware that Sonic was angry with him but still unsure why, hesitated. "Sonic, did I do something bad?"

"Well, you cheated these people out of what must be at least a hundred Mobiums' worth of food, to say nothing of how much the champagne must be, so yeah, you did something bad, Tails! _Very_ bad!"

Tails flattened his ears. He'd never had Sonic talk to him like this before.

"Is this 'cause of all the champagne?" he ventured. Sonic shot him a look.

"Are you being deliberately stup—what do you mean, _all the_ champagne? How much have you had?"

"Oh, on'y a sip," Tails hastened to assure him. "Like I said, it tastes weird an' I don't like it. I tried two of the bottles, but they were the same."

Sonic closed his eyes. "Tails, I want you to be very, very truthful when you answer this question. How many bottles of champagne did you order?"

"Well...I dunno how many bottles people usually drink, but I heard people talking 'bout a six pack, an' all alcohol is the same, right? So I jus'...well..."

"Tails," Sonic said in dangerous tones, opening his eyes to fix the fox with a steely gaze, "you ordered six bottles, didn't you?"

"Uh...yeah. You c'n have some if you want, Sonic. I told the waiter they were all for you."

Sonic closed his eyes again. "Great. Not only am I Mobius' national hero, I'm a dipsomaniac. Any more bad news?"

Tails squirmed.

"I...with the second bottle of champagne...uh...I accidentally spilled a little bit."

"How much is a _little bit_?"

"Well...mebbe you better come see. I didn't mean to, honest, it jus'...kinda happened." Tails opened the door to the bedroom and Sonic stared at the sodden sheets, stained wall and cracked mirror.

"You call this a _little bit_?" he said, dazed. "Tails, what the hell happened?"

"Well, I shook the second bottle 'cause I wanted to make it fizzier an' the cork jus' went _pow_ an' hit the mirror an' that surprised me so I dropped the bottle on the bed an' all the champagne jus' splurgled out."

"Oh _man_." Sitting down on the dryest part of the bed, Sonic dropped his head into his hands. "Thirty Mobiums for the mirror, twenty for the bed linen, who knows _how_ much for the food and drink and if the champagne's soaked through, at least a couple hundred for a new mattress...five hundred Mobiums might cover it. _Might_." He glanced up long enough to shoot Tails a killing look. "Damn you, kid, can't I leave you alone for five minutes?"

Tails' ears were now so flat they blended perfectly into his skull. "'M sorry, Sonic."

"So I should hope." Turning on his heel, Sonic stalked out, slamming the door hard behind him and leaving Tails quivering all over, feeling thoroughly sick. How could he have done something as dumb as that, when he _knew_ Sonic didn't like using his fame?

The next day wasn't a happy one as far as Tails was concerned. Sonic was still clearly furious and refused to return hugs or smiles, refused even to talk to the little fox despite Tails' very best efforts to make friends again. It wasn't until that evening that Sonic finally broke the silence, and that was only because he'd found a white rectangle on his pillow, a card made of hotel writing paper and which depicted a clearly very angry Sonic – his mouth was down so much it almost formed a circle – with a crying Tails. Frowning more in perplexity than anger – Sonic wasn't sure if the fox was taking the piss or not – he opened it. Written in sprawling red crayon were the words _sorree sonnick pleez tork to me agen luv tails_.

Sonic took a long deep breath. "Tails, come in here please."

There was a scuffle, such as might be made by someone who was looking through the keyhole backing away very rapidly.

"You said you wanted me to talk to you again, fine. Let's talk. But I'm not going to do it through a door."

The door was opened the barest crack and Tails peeked out.

"I'm not going to talk to your eyeball either," Sonic said calmly. "C'mon."

"I'm sorry, Sonic." Tails' voice was very hoarse. He came to stand in front of Sonic, face puffy and eyes so red from crying it almost looked like the little fox was wearing trick contact lenses. Watching him, Sonic felt a pang of conscience. In all fairness, he hadn't been ignoring Tails to punish him; he'd been ignoring the little fox because after what had happened he wasn't sure whether or not he could open his mouth without yelling at him. "I was jus' curious, 'sall. An' I was real hungry too."

Sonic patted the area of mattress next to him and Tails clambered up obediently. "I know, kiddo. I'm sorry too; I just…I got carried away on the slots and lost track of time. I forgot you hadn't eaten." He smiled slightly. "Guess I'm still getting used to having a sidekick around." Slipping an arm around Tails' shoulders, he squeezed. "Next time, just tell me what you want and I'll see about ordering it, okay?"

"I on'y wanted to give you a surprise. A nice one. You've been real nice to me, Sonic, an' I thought you'd like me to get you dinner."

"Oh kiddo." Sonic rubbed Tails' shoulder gently. "What am I gonna do with you, huh?"

Tails sniffed. "I dunno, Sonic. You keep asking that an' you never seem to work it out, but I don't gotta wait for you to come up with the answer in Emerald Hill Zone, right? I c'n wait with you, right? Right?"

Sonic raised an eye ridge. "If you mean _am I going to send you back_, the answer is no. Where'd I get another sidekick like you, huh?" He winked. "C'mon squirt, gimme a smile."

It took a few minutes, and several interesting expressions on Tails' part before Sonic agreed that the little fox had smiled, and they went down to reception together. The manager himself was there, talking to the receptionist. Catching sight of Sonic, he broke off his conversation abruptly and came to stand in front of the hedgehog with an attentive air.

Sonic took a long, deep breath. This was it. The moment of truth.

"How much do I owe you?" he said.

A muscle twitched once or twice in the manager's cheek before he said, "Don't worry about it."

"How much?" Sonic repeated firmly.

"Seven hundred and thirty two Mobiums."

Tails yipped in alarm and looked up at the hedgehog with huge eyes. "I'm sorry, Sonic."

"It's alright," Sonic said resignedly, then returned his attention to the manager. "Why so much? The mattress is fine and it was only six bottles of champagne."

"Six bottles of champagne plus one bottle of every wine we stock." The manager looked around, then leaned in, lowering his voice to a more confidential level. "Listen, Sonic, if you have a problem then there are people who can help you—"

"Look, I didn't bloody order it!" Sonic said stridently. "One bottle of every wine?" he repeated, glaring at a suddenly squirming Tails.

"I wanted to see if any of it tasted diff'rent to the champagne. 'Sokay though, Sonic; I on'y tasted one or two. I didn't open the rest, honest."

"Then where is it?"

"Erm..." Tails scuffed a toe on the floor. "I stuffed it in your wardrobe. I wanted to give you a surprise."

Sonic groaned. "Tails, do me a favour and lay off the surprises, okay?"

"Lotsa people like drinking wine, Sonic," Tails mumbled. "I thought you'd be happy."

"I'm very happy you're helping me out, Tails. I'm delighted you picked me to pounce attack on the beach that day. And I would be positively _ecstatic_ if you could stay out of trouble for...just...one..._day_."

"Well, I wanna make you elastic, Sonic, but...well...I never _try_ to get in trouble." Tails' ears drooped. "It jus' always gets into me."

He looked so downcast that Sonic was moved to ruffle the fur between the little fox's flat ears. "Hey kiddo, c'mon. It's not such a big deal, not really."

"But you're mad at me, Sonic, an' I don't want you mad at me. You're cool."

The hedgehog sighed. "No, Tails, I'm not mad at you anymore." He looked up at the manager again. "Give me the account number," he said wearily, "and I'll have a cheque transferred from Metropolis Zone as soon as I get there."

"Zero seven oh four two nine eight one." As the hedgehog made a note of it and then turned to speed away, the manager raised his voice. "Who's gonna be sending this cheque?"

Glancing over his shoulder, Sonic smiled broadly. "Offerings Publishing House and Manufacturers. They owe me a few royalties."

"But you said you weren't royal, Sonic," Tails piped up.

Sonic glanced down at him. "It's not royalty as in kings and queens, squirt; it means that for every book or comic or toy or _anything_ they make and sell based on me, they have to pay me some money."

Tails' eyes grew huge. "_Every_ toy, or just every type of toy?"

"Every toy."

"Wow." The fox barely breathed the word, eyes now seeming to fill his entire face. "You're gonna be rich, Sonic! Real, real, _real_ rich!"

"We can but hope, kiddo."

"Sonic?" Tails trotted next to the hedgehog, peering up at him. "Sonic, how come you never told me before that Off'rings Pubbing House an' Mannyfaxes was gonna give you loadsa money an' royalties things?"

"Well, I couldn't really, could I?" Good mood fully restored, Sonic winked at the little fox. "C'mon, kiddo, be fair; I haven't even told them yet."

**Okay, that's it for Casino Night :P On to Hill Top Zone :D Hope you enjoyed this and if you read, please review!**


	11. Hill Top Zone

**Samantha27: Thanks :D Yeah, I felt kinda sorry for Tails as well...poor little guy did try his best :P**

**Sonic-Addict: (innocent look) Well, Tails does think of himself as Sonic's little brother, after all :P**

**Poridet: (blushes) Thanks :D I've been sitting on the Tails-food-ordering scene for weeks now; it was great to finally slot it into place :P**

**Professor Vengeance: Heh, thanks :P I was wondering if anyone was going to comment on the dirty song ;)**

**Maverick87: (happy smile) Thanks, glad you like it :D I have to admit, I do love intertwining the fics :P**

**Kj: Well, now you know :P I figured someone was going to ask about Sonic's apparent wealth sooner or later, so I slipped that in ;) As for an update...here :P**

**TrueVulcanRaven: (blushes again) Thanks :D**

**Asher Tye: You bet there's gonna be crying...not only is Sonic likely to be claiming royalties for the rest of his life, he's probably going to demand back payments as well :P And yep, that's Hill Top ;) **

**Shadow-spawn180: Thanks :) And point taken about the battle, I'll try to do better in future :P**

**FriedBrickWall: Heh, I think only a few people think Sonic has a problem :P As for the rest...you'll see in time ;)**

**Parslie: Yep, I remember that part :P And the part where the whole Death Egg blows up and Sonic runs out the end ;)**

**Gameorama91: Thanks :) I'll try**

**TC Chan: (weg) Tickle attack...I gotta remember that one :P And thanks, glad you're enjoying it :D**

**Hawk's Soul: Ah, and you shall find out ;) And...well, I hate giving the story away in advance, but...it is very likely that you shall find out what happens to the publishing house in Metropolis Zone as well ;)**

**Matt Lans: Heh, thanks :D Casino Night Zone for me takes the prize for closest fight...the first time I did it, I literally jumped on the Prison Egg with two seconds to spare :P**

**D.C.111: (blushes) You _did_? Really? Wow…that's one of the most gratifying reviews I've ever got :D Thanks!**

**Lewisty: Thanks :)**

"Tails?" Sonic said levelly.

"Yup?"

"You know the two rules I laid down that aren't to be broken no matter what happens?"

"Yup?"

"Tell me again what they are?"

"Uh..." Tails frowned. "Number one, no going on ahead an' outta sight of you unless I'm flying. Number two, you go first into any dang'rous situations."

"And I'm adding number three," Sonic said flatly, "which is no dismantling electrical things!"

Tails looked around at the mess of wires and chips surrounding him which had once been the hotel room's TV and DVD/VCR combi, then at the screwdriver in his hand as though someone had planted it there to get him in trouble, then back at Sonic.

"What things?"

"Tails!"

The little fox sighed. "O-_kay_." Picking up a component, he slotted it into place, then reached for another. Sonic opened his mouth to tell Tails not to make it worse, then remembered what the little fox had done to the Tornado and shut it again.

It was a good half an hour before Tails put the final chip in, screwed the casing back on, wired it up and pushed the ON button. The TV responded instantly, humming into life to reveal the morning news.

"Tails..." Sonic hesitated, lost for words, then dropped onto the fox's eye level. "How..." He stopped again.

Tails looked at him, ears drooping slightly. "What, Sonic? I fixed it, right? It works real great now so you don't gotta get mad again."

Sonic shook his head. "I'm not mad at you, squirt. I...just...you..." He stared at the TV – noticing for the first time that the picture actually seemed a little better than before Tails had explored it – then back at the little fox. "Who taught you how to do that?"

Tails blinked. "Nobody. I jus' do it 'cause I like building stuff an' seeing how things work."

The seeing how things work part Sonic could well believe – he had vague memories of doing the same thing to Mighty's video game console when he wasn't much older than Tails, and the armadillo had been mega-pissed at him for about six weeks – but the putting them back together again was a little too much for him to swallow.

"Why'd you take it apart, anyway?" Sonic wanted to know.

"So's I could see what was inside, of course," Tails informed him, with a suitably scathing look.

_This kid's a genius_. The thought came unbidden to Sonic, who stared at Tails as the little fox started to put the combi player back together.

"Can you build anything?" he said.

"Oh sure! Well, ev'rything 'cept for houses an' anything round an'...well, if it's 'lectric, I can make it work real good, Sonic! Kinda like your plane, 'member?"

"Yeah, I remember. I'd been working on it for hours and you just stepped in and fixed it in about ten minutes." Sonic shook his head, grinning in unfeigned admiration. "You are one seriously cool kid, Tails, you know that?"

Tails squirmed, studying his feet with a bashful expression. "I jus' build stuff, Sonic, 'sall."

"You just build stuff that I doubt I could build in a million years, squirt."

"Aw...you're jus' saying that."

"No, I'm not." Sonic opened his bag and Tails fetched the Chaos Emeralds from under his pillow, dropping each one in. "I'm pretty good at smashing bots—"

"But not as good as _me_, Sonic, 'member?" Tails beamed. "I smashed _loads_ more'n you in Em'rald Hill Zone!"

"Yes, alright, Tails," Sonic said tersely. He was still a little put out about that, even now. "Like I said, I'm pretty good at smashing bots, but I couldn't put 'em back together again."

Tails frowned, scratching his head. "Why'd you want to?"

Sonic mentally retuned his brain to Tails' wavelength. "I mean, I'm no good at building machines or things like TVs."

Tails giggled. "Nuh uh, Sonic! You built that great big atom bomb, an' that copy of ol' Robotnik's evil giant Sonic-squishing thingummyzapper, 'member? An' that motorbike with wings! C'n I have a ride on that, Sonic, when we get back to wherever you keep it? How come you didn't bring it with you?"

Sonic took a long, deep breath. "Tails, do we really need to go over this again? What's in the comics and catalogues is _not_ what's in real life. I have never built a great big atom bomb and I've no intention of building one, I've never built a copy of a giant evil...a big..."

"An evil giant Sonic-squishing thingummyzapper," Tails corrected him painstakingly.

The hedgehog grimaced. "Yeah, that. Never built one, never want to. And I do not have a motorbike, with or without wings." Sonic folded his arms. "And for the record, Tails, I have never at any time in my _life_ said, 'Take that you big fat dummyhead' to Robotnik." That was what also got to Sonic; not only were the comics based on that first battle grossly inaccurate, the script was lousy as well.

"You did too, Sonic. Right here." Tails rummaged around until he found the Sonic comic the hedgehog had bought him – an action he was bitterly regretting, especially since Tails insisted Sonic read it aloud to him every night – and thumbed through it before shoving it under Sonic's nose. "See?"

Sonic didn't bother to look; in fact, it was only the thought of how much it would hurt and upset Tails that kept him from snatching the comic and ripping it to pieces, and even then it took a supreme effort on his part.

"That comic is a _lie_, Tails! They're all lies, every last one of them!" Instincts taking over, Sonic snatched the comic and it was only Tails' yip of dismay that prevented him shredding it completely and throwing it into a fire for good measure. Glancing down at the comic – or at least, the half of it in his left hand – Sonic flushed bright red, deeply ashamed. Smoothing the covers, he handed both halves to Tails, who took them and hugged them to him tightly, looking up at the hedgehog with huge, hurt eyes.

"Oh kiddo, I'm so sorry." Sonic dropped to his knees and held out his arms, but Tails backed away. He was still wearing that hurt expression, but there was something else in those bright blue orbs now; fear. Turning, he raced into his bedroom and shut the door.

"Tails? Tails! Oh man." Collapsing onto his own bed, Sonic dropped his head into his hands. He didn't cry – he hadn't seriously cried since he'd driven Robotnik away from the Sky Base – but it was a close thing.

Acting like he had...it was no wonder he'd scared Tails. These days, Sonic was coming very close to scaring himself, not least because he seemed to be starting to _enjoy_ the fighting, enjoy pitting his wits against Robotnik's bots and winning.

_And if I like and get a kick out of destroying things, even Robotnik's things, how does that make me any different from him_? Sonic wondered wretchedly. _Is that the real reason why I've never seriously chased after him since he and I both landed here? Because if I caught him it would mean an end to my fun?_

_Oh man, just what kinda guy _am _I_?

Pushing himself to his feet, he walked wearily over to the little fox's bedroom door and knocked softly.

"Tails?"

No answer.

"Tails, kiddo, can I come in?"

Nothing.

"Well, they say silence is the same thing as consent, so I'll take that as a yes." Sonic pushed open the door and stepped into Tails' room, where the little fox was busy trying to make his bed. Since this was the first time he'd tried doing any such thing, it was turning into something of a complicated operation and it was also blatantly obvious that he was only doing it to avoid looking at Sonic.

"Tails, I..." Sonic's voice was hoarser than he'd expected and he cleared his throat, tried again. "C'mon squirt, let's talk."

Tails shook his head so violently his ears flapped, not looking up.

"You don't wanna talk. Okay, lil buddy. You don't have to talk, just listen." Sonic took a long, deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I just..." He broke off, tried again. "What you gotta understand is...well..." Sonic's voice mutinied for a second time and it was only with a vast effort that he managed to say, "I...sometimes, I get...upset."

"How come?"

Relieved that the little fox was talking, Sonic pressed on.

"I...well, I've had a lot of bad stuff going down in my life recently, and...it gets on top of me. I didn't mean to take it out on you, kiddo; just seeing that comic pushed me that little bit too far."

"Well, I threw the comic 'way," Tails informed him, with much the same attitude and amount of misery as he'd use if he was due to undergo public castration. "'S what you wanted, right Sonic? You didn't wanna read it to me an' now you don't gotta ever 'gain."

Sonic stared at him. "You did what?"

"I threw it 'way." Tails looked over his shoulder at the writing desk in his room. "An'..." He broke off and looked away again, ears drooping. Sonic followed his gaze to the desk and saw the fragments of metal there.

"What's that? Have you been taking stuff apart again?"

Tails studied his feet. "Kinda. That's my super cool Sonic fighter ship. I smashed it."

"You..." The hedgehog stared at the mess, then at Tails. "Why? I thought you loved that toy."

Tails looked away. "Yeah...but I didn't want you to be sad anymore. I don't like it when you're sad, Sonic 'cause heroes aren't s'posed to be sad an' I know you get sad when you see stuff like comics an' toys of you, so..." He let the sentence trail off.

Sonic's legs seemed to mutiny at that point, dropping the hedgehog to the ground.

"Oh kiddo, I never meant you to…I didn't think you'd…"

Something cracked inside him, something that the hedgehog had frozen for a long time and he put his head into his hands and felt the tears burning his palms.

Awed, horrified, Tails stared at his hero, ears flat against his head. Sonic was _crying_? Sonic couldn't cry! He was the hero of Mobius and heroes didn't cry, not _never_! At least, not unless they were real, real sad, Tails amended.

"Sonic?" he ventured.

The hedgehog didn't answer but he didn't snap at Tails either.

"Sonic, how come you're sad?" Tails persisted, eyes huge. "You don't gotta read me that comic or—" Tails' voice quivered slightly but he continued— "or watch me play with my super cool Sonic fighter ship ever again, so how come you're sad?" He ducked both namesakes between his legs. "Did I do something bad again?"

"_No_." Sonic's voice quivered slightly, but the vehemence of his answer left Tails in no doubt as to its sincerity. "You didn't do anything to cause this, Tails, don't ever think that. _Ever_."

"But you weren't crying before I tole you what I did an' I on'y did it so you'd be happy so how come you're not, Sonic?"

"I'm fine," Sonic lied.

"No you're not; you're still crying." Wanting to make Sonic feel better, Tails crossed over to him and started patting him on the shoulder.

The thought filtered through Sonic's mind that this was absurd and he should be ashamed of himself, that he was crying like a little kid (and being comforted by one to boot) but once he started he found he couldn't stop.

Tails kept patting Sonic's shoulder, not knowing what else to do. He knew it made him feel loads better when Sonic rocked him, but – although he'd opened up a great deal since meeting the hedgehog – he was still too shy to try anything so presumptuous...not to mention the little fact that with the difference in their sizes, Sonic might very well end up rocking right on top of Tails and squashing him flat.

"Sonic?" Tails' namesakes twined around each other anxiously. "Sonic, please stop being sad. Heroes aren't s'posed to be sad, you're s'posed to be a smart, tough, cool guy who's always cracking wives. Why d'you crack wives, Sonic?"

Even from Tails, this question was so outlandish that Sonic actually lifted his head to stare at the fox. "What?"

"'S what it said on the com—" Tails broke off abruptly and bit his lip so hard he tasted blood. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Sonic took a deep, shuddering breath, thinking that the worst of it was over. "What did it say on the comic, squirt?"

Tails eyed him warily. "I'll on'y tell you if you _promise_ it's not gonna make you sad again, Sonic, 'cause I don't want you to be sad."

"I promise. What did it say?"

"Well...it said something 'bout how you were a cool, smart, tough, wife-cracking dude with way...cool...Sonic, how come you're laughing?"

"I'm not," Sonic denied untruthfully, clamping one hand across his mouth.

Unsure why Sonic had found his words funny, but overjoyed that the hedgehog was happy again, Tails beamed. "You are. Your eyes're all bright an'..." He paused, leaning in for a closer look. "Oh...no, that's jus' 'cause you been sniffling. Well...you were still laughing."

"Tails..." Sonic gave up the unequal struggle, leaned back against the wall and laughed until his sides hurt, laughter with a slight touch of hysteria in it.

"Sonic?" Tails flattened his ears slightly – this reminded him of Emerald Hill Zone, when all the cool kids had laughed at him – then risked a nudge on the hedgehog's arm. "Sonic...I didn't wanna be funny."

"I know, kiddo." Finally managing to regain enough control over himself to stop laughing, Sonic reached over and ruffled the fur on the little fox's head. "I know." He shook his head. "Man, Tails, what would I do without you?"

Tails frowned quizzically. "Don't you mean what're you gonna do _with_ me? 'Cause that's always what you say to me, Sonic."

"Maybe both," Sonic conceded, a grin on his face. He pushed himself to his feet and held out a hand. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah! Um. Almost. I jus' gotta do something first." To Sonic's surprise, Tails spun him around and pushed him towards the door. "C'mon Sonic, you gotta leave. I gotta do something secret."

"Sounds intriguing," Sonic remarked, although he was still allowing himself to be propelled out of the room by the determined little fox.

"It's not in a tree, Sonic, it's right here an' you _gotta_ go!"

"Yeah? Well, listening to you I'm not sure that I'm the only one."

Tails paused. "What?"

Sonic shook his head wryly. "Doesn't matter, kiddo. Okay. You come through when you're ready. Just remember we have to be out this room by eleven."

In fact it was quarter to twelve by the time Tails emerged looking very pleased with himself, and it was only because it was Sonic the hedgehog who had this particular room that hotel security hadn't turned up to evict them by force.

Sonic, who was lying on his bed and reading a magazine, was considerably surprised when Tails crashed open his bedroom door, raced in and leapt into the air, yelped and hovered above him.

"This is the big secret thing, kiddo?" he said, rolling onto his side to look up at Tails.

"I thought you'd gone an' I found you in here an' I was gonna pounce attack you but I forgot that your back's all spiky," Tails said in one breath.

"You thought I'd gone?" Sonic shook his head. "I'm not gonna leave you on your own, squirt. I promise."

Tails landed next to him with a bump. "Cross your heart an' hope to die stick a needle in your eye an' bake it in a pella pie?"

Sonic laughed. "Sure." He got to his feet. "C'mon lil buddy. I think it's time we weren't here."

It took them most of the afternoon to get through Casino Night Zone, and by the time they were clear Tails was dragging his feet slightly and his walking had become slightly erratic.

"C'mon kiddo." Sonic led the way into a field. "Let's camp for the night."

Tails yawned hugely, padded after the hedgehog and then curled up into a tight ball under a tree.

"You c'n have the branches, Sonic, 'cause I don't want you to get in trouble when someone comes along an' if you're in the branches they won't see you."

Sonic shook his head. "This isn't Emerald Hill Zone, Tails. We can both sleep on the ground without getting in trouble." He checked the money situation and winced. Seven and a half Mobiums.

Well, it would do for what he wanted. Sonic looked down at Tails. "I'm gonna go buy us some food, okay kiddo?"

Tails' ears pricked at the mention of _food_. "You bet!" He paused. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"I've made you a card an' I'm gonna put it in your sleeping bag while you're away so's you'll find it when you go to sleep."

Sonic blinked. "Well...thanks, I guess, but why tell me about it?"

"'Cause you said back in Casino Night Zone that you didn't want any more surprises," Tails answered, in a tone which said he was having much the same thoughts about Sonic as Sonic was about him.

"Tails, I..." Sonic shook his head. "C'mere." He reached down, scooping Tails into his arms, and hugged him.

Not understanding Sonic's reaction, but managing to grasp the fact that the hedgehog was happy with him – prob'ly 'cause he'd remembered about not giving Sonic any more surprises! – Tails beamed up at his hero. Maybe it was safe to tell Sonic his bestest secret now! He only hoped the hedgehog wouldn't laugh at him or make fun of it.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

Tails squirmed, looking like he had when he'd given Sonic the picture back in Emerald Hill Zone, (currently folded and placed carefully at the bottom of the hedgehog's bag where there was no danger of it falling out or getting damaged) opened his mouth, then looked away again, blushing and wriggling.

"What? You gotta go to the bathroom?"

"No!" Tails giggled loudly; like most little kids, he found anything to do with bodily functions hilarious. "'S jus'...Sonic, c'n I show you something?"

"Hm." Sonic pretended to consider. "Is it something that's so slimy, multilegged or just plain icky that nobody in their right mind would ever look at it?"

"No!" Tails said again, with another giggle. Sonic sighed.

"Oh well, better luck next time, I guess." Glancing down at Tails' semi-anxious face, he grinned broadly. "'Course you can, squirt. What do you want to show me?"

"That." Tails pointed up. "See that star? That really big bright one next to that moon?"

"Oh...yeah," Sonic said, while frantically scanning the sky back and forth several times before locating the star in question.

"That's the star that sent you to be my friend." Tails leaned against the hedgehog's ribs. "He's called Sparkly."

The hedgehog raised an eye ridge. "You named it?"

"_Him_! I named _him_!"

Sonic held up his hands placatingly. "Okay, sorry. You named _him_?"

"Sure. I mean, he couldn't tell me his name so I gave him a Mobian one. I don't think he minds. But I wished on him every night – well, every night when I could see him – an' he sent you to be my friend." Tails snuggled closer. "How'd he do it, Sonic? Did he tell you? Or did he offer to give you something if you came to be friends with me?"

"No, squirt, he didn't. He's never spoken to me and I've never spoken to him."

Tails looked up at him, eyes huge. "B-but...you _gotta_. Else how'd he know to send you? How'd _you_ know to come? He did send you, right Sonic? Right?"

Sonic glanced at the anxious little fox and smiled. "Yeah, kiddo, I'm sure he did."

"Then how come you and he never spoke?"

"Well..." Sonic's mind raced frantically, trying to come up with a good explanation. "See...when stars grant wishes, no matter what those wishes are, they like to do it without anybody knowing apart from the person whose wish they granted."

"They _do_?" Tails breathed. "How come?"

"Because..." Sonic faltered. "Because...because..." Inspiration struck. "Because not everybody knows that stars grant wishes. If they did, they'd all want wishes and the stars wouldn't get any rest, would they?" He lowered his voice to a more conspiratorial level. "Can you imagine what it would be like if every single person on Mobius wished on stars?"

Tails frowned in concentration for all of five seconds before saying, "Boy, the stars'd be real busy, huh Sonic?"

"You bet they would, kiddo." Sonic looked back at the star in question. Part of the constellation known as the Hedgehog.

He shivered slightly. Now there was a coincidence for you, if you believed in such things.

"I still talk to him sometimes," Tails confided, "'cause I don't want him to think I don't like him anymore. You know, like I forgot him as soon as he granted my wish. 'Cause I think loads of people on'y ever talk to stars when they want something."

"You could be right about that." Sonic looked up at the star that Tails had named Sparkly and found himself wishing that he could have as much faith in wishing on stars as Tails did.

"We gonna get food now?" Tails asked hopefully.

"_I_ am, yeah. You stay here, squirt." Before the little fox had time to argue or protest, Sonic had placed him on the ground, then turned and raced away at top speed.

He got back a few minutes later, carrying a bag filled with takeout food.

"_Wow_!" Tails opened the bag and dived in, then emerged, looking hesitant. "But…Sonic, there's on'y one fish an' on'y one chips in here."

"I know, squirt, and they're both for you."

Tails' eyes grew big. "But what're you gonna eat?"

Sonic forced himself not to look away as he answered, "I've eaten, kiddo. I had some while I was waiting."

"Oh. Okay." Tails pulled out the bag of chips and promptly spilled half of them onto the ground. "Oops."

Sonic shook his head, grinning. "It doesn't matter. We'll pick 'em up and chuck 'em in the trash tomorrow morning."

Tails squirmed. "Can't we leave 'em?"

"Why on Mobius would you want to leave them?"

"'Cause there's prob'ly loadsa other kids who don't got food an' you can't feed all of 'em, Sonic, but if we leave the chips then they'd be able to eat them."

Sonic pulled a face. "You really think they'd want to? They'd be cold and dirty and…" He shivered. "Man, I wouldn't wanna eat 'em!"

"Well, 's funny, Sonic, but when you get real hungry you kinda don't notice stuff like that," Tails said simply. "You jus' think, oh boy, chips!"

"_Cold_ chips."

"You'd be real happy if that was all that was wrong with 'em, Sonic." Tails took a huge mouthful of hot chips and swallowed with a visible effort. "What'd you have to eat, Sonic?"

The hedgehog glanced at him and managed a grin, hoping it didn't betray the ravening emptiness in his stomach. "Same as you, kiddo."

"Oh right." Tails finished the chips, gulped down the fish in four large bites, burped, yawned and curled up into a ball, snuggling next to Sonic for warmth.

The hedgehog shook his head wryly, grinning.

_Kids_…

* * *

"Are you _sure_ this is the right way?" Sonic asked.

"Oh sure. Um. I think so." Tails hesitated. "Well…it's a road, so it's gotta go somewhere, huh Sonic? An' _we_ wanna go somewhere, so it'll work out okay, right?"

Sonic grinned. "Yeah, I guess so."

They'd been travelling for about two hours now, and the path Tails had chosen was getting steeper and steeper as it wound up through the mountains.

"You think ol' Robotnik came up here?" Tails asked.

"I hope not," Sonic told him. "Where is _here_, anyway?"

"We're in the mountains!"

"No kidding." The hedgehog put on a sudden burst of speed and raced on ahead, momentum carrying him up vertical walls and finally to the top of the mountain, where he stopped in pure surprise. "What…?"

Tails, flying in from above and panting hard, plonked himself down on the ground and followed Sonic's stare.

A Zone lay spread out before them, set in a vast crater, too large to see the other side. There were several abysses and cliffs scattered through it, but the Zone itself was thickly green. To Sonic – who had grown up in a very similar Zone – this could only mean one thing.

_Great. We're about to walk straight into a volcano._ He perked up slightly. _Still…maybe it's inactive_. After all, Green Island was little more than a huge volcano, and there had been no eruptions there for hundreds of years.

"Hill Top Zone!" Tails' ears pricked forward. "You're gonna love this Zone, Sonic! There's no water _anywhere_ so you can't drown!" Thinking of water reminded the little fox and he turned. "How come you hate water anyway? It's fun!"

"I'm a hydrophobe," Sonic said shortly as he started to pick his way down the steep slope in front of them. He didn't much like discussing water, especially his own fear of it.

Tails frowned. "I thought you were a hedgehog."

"I meant I'm hydrophobic." When Tails continued to look bemused, Sonic elaborated. "You know, I suffer from hydrophobia?"

"Oh." Tails frowned. "Can't you get some kinda cream for that? 'Cause you c'n get cream for jus' 'bout ev'rything else, Sonic an'—_ooh_! Look!"

Sonic followed the little fox's pointing finger to where a blue platform surrounded by railings and suspended by what looked like vines was hanging just in front of them. A larger, thicker vine had been wrapped securely round a blue post and ran down to an identical post on the opposite side. The whole structure looked horribly unstable to Sonic.

Unfortunately, it also looked like the only way across the abyss in front of them. It was too far for Tails to carry Sonic, and too far even for the hedgehog to jump.

"C'mon Sonic, let's go!" Tails grabbed Sonic's hand and tugged him along and onto the platform, which started to move as soon as they were on board.

"What do you know about this Zone?" Sonic asked.

Tails stopped peering over the railings and looked back at Sonic. "Uh. I know it's real cool an' tourists love it! An' that—hey, look, Sonic! We're above the clouds!"

Sonic looked obligingly. There was a strong wind down there and the clouds in question were moving rapidly along beneath them.

The platform lurched suddenly and Tails yelped, more in surprise than fear, then the next thing he knew Sonic had seized him tightly around the waist and leapt, carrying the little fox off the platform and onto the ground beyond just as the vines supporting the platform snapped and sent it tumbling into the abyss.

"That was _cool_!" Tails enthused, watching its progress. "Let's go find another one an' do it again, huh Sonic?"

"Maybe later," Sonic said automatically. "In the meantime, we gotta get through this Zone."

"How come, Sonic?" Tails looked up at him. "Where're we going?"

"Metropolis Zone," Sonic answered grimly. "I want a little word with certain people."

Tails giggled. "Boy, that pubbing house is sure gonna be sad to see you, huh Sonic?"

"You bet they are, kiddo."

"Are they gonna cry?"

"I wouldn't be at all surprised." Sonic came to an abrupt stop as they drew near the base of a cliff. There was a seesaw underneath, combined with what looked like a large glowing rock at one end.

"What d'you think that's for?" Sonic said edgily. Tails followed his gaze and his face lit up.

"Oh boy! C'mon Sonic, let's play!"

"What?" Bemused, Sonic watched as Tails raced over to the seesaw and bounced onto the end in the air, sending the glowing rock arcing into the sky.

"C'mon Sonic, get on the other end an' let's play!"

Sonic started towards it, then something caught his eye and he stared. "Tails, get offa there!"

"Huh?"

"C'mon, _move_!"

Tails looked at the hedgehog, then said, "Okay," and got to his feet, balancing on the end, and started walking along, arms outstretched, swaying slightly as the plank dipped down. "Hey, look at me, Sonic, I'm walking on the seesaw!"

The rock crashed down onto the end that Tails had just left, sending the little fox hurtling into the sky with a yelp.

"Tails!" Without thinking about it, Sonic followed, racing straight up the sheer cliff and almost flattening Tails on the top. "Are you okay?"

"Sure! I love this Zone, Sonic! Can I go down an' get bounced up again?"

"No kiddo. C'mon."

"Aww, _Sonic_." Tails pouted, then, seeing his hero walking away, rushed to catch up.

An ominous rumbling sounded from directly underneath, and both Sonic and Tails shifted their weight edgily, neither sure whether to run or stay.

"What's happening, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"I dunno," Sonic admitted. "I think—"

At that point, the rumbling built up to a crescendo and the ground dropped away from under them.

It was only blind luck that saved them. Too startled to fly, Tails fell side by side with Sonic before both of them crashed down onto a vine platform identical to the one they'd been on earlier.

"Is it gonna drop, Sonic?" Tails wanted to know, edging closer.

"Yeah. I think so." Sonic looked around. "Get ready to jump, kiddo."

"Okay!" Tails raced for the edge and leapt.

"Dammit Tails, I didn't mean—" Without thinking Sonic jumped after him, landing on a platform underneath by pure chance.

"Why'd you do that, Sonic?" Tails asked.

The hedgehog somehow managed to find enough strength to glare at the little fox. "Because I thought you were in trouble."

"I was on'y flying to see where you could jump to," Tails said in an injured tone. "An' there's another platform under this one that you can jump on when this one falls down."

In fact there were three such platforms, so arranged that you could go from one to the other easily, and Sonic and Tails leapt from platform to platform, always mindful of the churning magma underneath them. At least, Sonic was; Tails was too busy flying alongside whatever platform the hedgehog was currently riding in and attempting to race it.

Eventually, just when Sonic was starting to think it would never come to an end, he leapt off the final platform to land squarely on the stone floor.

"That was real cool, huh Sonic?" Tails said, beaming.

"Sure," Sonic answered. After everything he'd been through so far, a little thing like platform-hopping in an active volcano was almost relaxing. "C'mon kiddo, let's see if we can find a way outta here."

"An' see if we can find ol' Robotnik too?" Tails said hopefully.

"In the past, Tails—" Sonic dodged as a bot on the ceiling fired its drill bit at them— "I've never had to worry about that. Robotnik has a habit of finding me."

"Huh?" Tails followed Sonic onto a platform and then up onto another one. "How come, Sonic? Does he like getting whumped?"

Sonic laughed. "I've no idea, squirt. Maybe he does. Or maybe he just wants to stop me whumping him."

Tails giggled. "Boy, if he thinks he can do that, he's _real_ crazy, huh Sonic?"

The hedgehog looked away, serious again. "Yeah," he said quietly. "He's crazy alright."

They continued on in silence for a few moments.

"Sonic?" Tails said suddenly, and also somewhat nervously.

"Yeah?"

"Uh. I think...you know this volcano we're in?"

"Ye-eah?"

The little fox squirmed, looking down over his shoulder at the molten rock. "Well, I don't wanna scare you, Sonic, but I think it's about to go poom."

Sonic's jaw dropped. "_What_?"

"Yeah, so can we get outta here? Please?"

The hedgehog looked down to where the ground was starting to tremble underneath his feet, then at the rising magma and said a word that Tails hadn't even realised heroes knew.

"Can you fly out?" Sonic demanded. Tails shook his head.

"Uh uh. We gotta go through the tunnels, Sonic."

The hedgehog looked at the tunnels in question, then grabbed the little fox. "Hang onto me, Tails!"

The resultant grip was so tight that Sonic was obliged to waste precious seconds in loosening it enough to breathe, then as soon as Tails was secure, he broke into a sprint, leaping from platform to platform in an effort to escape the deadly tide surging up underneath them.

Catching sight of a door, he jumped for it, causing it to slide open as he approached and slam shut afterwards. Sparing a glance over his shoulder, Sonic saw to his amazement that it appeared to be holding back the lava.

_Worry about the architecture later, genius. Run!_

Sonic ran, picking up the speed as much as he dared. A hidden spring catapulted him up to the next level just as the door behind him gave way and magma roared in. Accelerating blindly, barely aware of Tails now, Sonic raced for the end of the tunnel and the daylight he could see there.

He exploded out of the passageway and the side of the mountain a split second before the lava did, continuing straight on as molten rock poured out of the hole and down the side.

Tails grabbed Sonic's wrists and started to fly, carrying the hedgehog above the rising tide before depositing him on one of two platforms that were in the middle of the lava, but stable.

"That was _so cool_!"

"You would probably think it was cool if I cannonballed into the lava," Sonic said, lying on his back and gasping for breath. The heat from the lava in question seemed to be burning all the air away.

"Nuh uh, Sonic, 'cause then I'd have to whump ol' Robotnik all by myself an' it's no fun without you."

"Tails." That was a hideous thought, one that hadn't occurred to the hedgehog, and he sat up and caught hold of the little fox's shoulders. "Tails, _promise_ me that if anything happens to me, you won't try and whump Robotnik. Promise me that if you end up on your own, you'll get away from Robotnik and go and find someone to take care of you."

"But Sonic—"

"Promise me, Tails!"

The little fox squirmed, flattened his ears and attempted to wriggle free before apparently realising that Sonic would not take no for an answer; he sighed gustily and then mumbled, "Promise."

"Good." Sonic released him and got to his feet, noticing for the first time how his speed had affected Tails' fur and grinning broadly. "You look like a little fox-shaped tumbleweed." Reaching out, he did his best to smooth down Tails' fur.

The little fox grabbed his hand and pushed it away. "Yeah, an' _you_ look like a…a…"

"A what?" Sonic demanded with mock severity, both hands on hips.

"A…a great big blue flying buzzsaw thingy of _death_!" Tails considered, and then added, "With way cool sneakers an' loadsa cash!"

"The cash part's running low right now," Sonic informed him. In fact that was something of an understatement; after buying the food for Tails he had three and a half Mobiums left.

"Yeah, but it's not gonna once we get to Metropolis Zone!" Tails said eagerly. "That pubbing house is gonna give you loadsa money, right Sonic?"

"We can but hope, kiddo."

Tails reached out and grabbed Sonic's hand. "They gotta, Sonic. 'Cause if you weren't the biggest hero an' coolest guy on all Mobius, they wouldn't have anyone to write comics an' make toys of an' so they gotta give you some money for that."

"Yeah…" Sonic's voice tailed off as he drifted into a wistful daydream. He'd never had much money. When he'd been living in Green Hill Zone, he'd mostly squatted with Mighty's parents. Like the armadillo, Sonic had received five Mobiums per week allowance and like the armadillo, he'd also blown it on candy and/or soda first chance he got, or occasionally he and Mighty had pooled their money and bought a second hand video game. He'd been nine when he'd first started saving – mostly because he wanted to see what a million Mobiums would look like all piled up – and then he'd got involved with Kintobor and had never found the time to spend those Mobiums. The idea of even a thousand Mobiums was enough to take his breath away.

"Well, if those jerks in Metropolis Zone think they can cheapen everything I went through on Green Island and sell it to make themselves a quick Mobium, they got another think coming," he said aloud. "We're talking serious royalties here, squirt."

"_Yeah_!" Tails grinned broadly, a grin that was effectively wiped off his face as a voice from behind spoke up, making them both jump.

"Well, if there's any royalties being made from those incidents, I feel that I'm entitled to a share."

Sonic and Tails whirled to see Robotnik floating in the lava, smirking at them.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sonic said flatly. "You know, I was just thinking that it's been too long since my latest near-death escape."

Tails eyed Robotnik's latest vehicle warily. "D'you still got that zappy thing, ol' Robotnik?"

"Less of the _old_, thankyou. And no. I never use the same ideas twice, as Sonic can testify."

Sonic folded his arms. "One day, even you are going to run out of those ideas, doc."

"Very likely," Robotnik agreed pleasantly, "but I have plenty of time to kill you until then."

Tails took off, hovering above the vehicle. "Ha! I'd jus' like to see you _try_!"

Unexpectedly, Robotnik smiled. "Your wish is my command. By the way, before I begin, just who _are_ you? I feel awkward killing someone I haven't been introduced to."

"You zapped me when you didn't know who I was so you can try an' kill me an' Sonic without knowing who I am!"

Robotnik's smile broadened. "Very well. We'll do this your way. Game on."

He slid under the lava, leaving Tails hovering above him with a puzzled look.

"Hey Sonic, where'd ol' Robotnik go?"

Sonic didn't answer, already edging back. This was just like Labyrinth Zone all over again. Fair enough, it was in lava rather than water, but still...

Heat roared up beneath his heel and he jumped forward reflexively, spinning around to come face to face with flames roaring higher than his head.

"What the—"

"SONIC!" Tails shrieked over the fire's crackling. "Sonic, I'm gonna come down an'—"

"No!" Sonic's head snapped back to glare at the fox. "You stay out of this, Tails! I'm not kidding!" Glancing back, he opened his mouth to make some stinging retort to Robotnik only to find that the doctor had sunk below the surface again and all Sonic managed to do was get a lungful of smoke. Coughing violently, eyes streaming, he turned away reflexively, preparing to meet Robotnik on the other side of the river.

"Sonic, behind you!"

The hedgehog whirled to see Robotnik's machine emerging on the same side as before, and even Sonic was almost too slow off the mark to escape. Dipping down, Tails seized Sonic and lifted him into the air just as the platform exploded into flames again, flames which died almost as soon as they'd arrived.

"You were s'posed to whump him, Sonic!" Tails said indignantly, dropping the hedgehog on the now charred platform.

Sonic yelled in pain as his body crashed through the cinders and brittle charcoal to the embers still burning underneath, then leapt for the next platform, rubbing himself frantically and trying to alleviate the agony of the burns.

Ironically, it was this that saved him as Robotnik ignited the ground Sonic had just left for the second time and Tails divebombed the Eggstreme Submarine hard, then yelped as the shock jolted through his short legs.

"You don't think I would be stupid enough to go deep sea diving in a lava pool without added protection, do you?" Robotnik drawled. "My Eggstreme Submarine is coated with lava resistant metal. You can't hope to damage it."

"'S not all metal though, is it, ol' Robotnik?" Before the doctor had time to answer, Tails had seized a rock and smashed it into the windshield, cracking it, and then continued to pound on the same spot, widening the cracks until a tiny hole appeared.

"Hah!" Spinning both namesakes, Tails took off and hurled the rock at the vehicle, scoring a direct hit on the flamethrower. "Let's see you go under all that lava stuff _now_! 'Less you can make it go up an' cover me an' Sonic you're dead, ol' Robotnik!"

"I did just that in the volcano," Robotnik informed him, although he was already pulling out of Tails' reach.

"You made the lava stuff come up an' try to whump us?" Tails said accusingly.

"Absolutely. And it's not lava all the time it's still in the volcano; it's magma."

"Yeah, well, whatever it is, it's gonna be squirting into your vehicle thingy if you don't go real quick!" Tails shouted, but Robotnik was already sailing down the lava away from them. He might have been able to finish Sonic, but he didn't like the way the hedgehog was starting to get to his feet. If he couldn't sink below the protective lava…no, Sonic was more than capable of destroying his Eggstreme Submarine. Robotnik wasn't entirely sure if the hedgehog was willing to destroy the doctor himself, but he didn't much want to find out the hard way either.

Tails hovered, throwing rocks at Robotnik until the doctor's vehicle was out of reach, then he swooped down, picked up Sonic and put him on the far shore.

"Sonic! Sonic, 'sokay, ol' Robotnik's gone now, Sonic. Sonic, are you okay?"

"I. Hate. This. Zone," Sonic said in a muffled voice.

"More'n Chemical Plant Zone?"

"Believe it." The hedgehog sat up stiffly and started to say something else, but his voice degenerated into a harsh spasm of coughing and he rolled over onto his hands and knees, coughing and choking in an effort to bring up something that wasn't there. Eventually he collapsed onto his side, his breathing rapid and shallow. His skin felt dry, taut and ultra sensitive, like it had back in the Jungle Zone when he'd dismissed all the suggestions of sunscreen and ended up stiff with sunburn. If only there was some dew on the grass, or _something_ to ease the tightness.

"I wish I'd never come to this hell of an island," he grated.

Tails stared at him, eyes huge. "You _do_?"

Seeing the little fox's stricken expression, Sonic tried to smile and managed a painful grimace. "Well...if I coulda avoided it and still met you, sure. You're about the only good thing to have come out of all this."

"Even better than your getting to whump ol' Robotnik some more?"

"_Especially_ better than my getting to whump ol' Robotnik some more," Sonic assured him, with more fervour than Tails would have believed. He started to say more but this rapidly degenerated into a violent coughing spasm that shook his entire body. Stars pinwheeled crazily in and out of his vision and he closed his eyes with a groan and collapsed, only vaguely hearing Tails' anxious cries.

He dimly felt a pair of small hands – Tails' – wrap themselves firmly around his leg and haul it over the little fox's shoulder. Pulling gamely, Tails started to drag the hedgehog's limp form away from the lava, talking all the time. It was like being pulled over needles, and Sonic was incredibly glad when he finally passed out.

Tails, meanwhile, kept going doggedly until he reached the Egg Prison. Hesitating, memories of Emerald Hill Zone still fresh in his mind, he wasn't sure whether to destroy it or not.

Behind him, Sonic groaned and that decided Tails; the hedgehog needed help.

Shrugging himself from underneath Sonic, he raced forward and bounced on top of it, then off again and back to Sonic side just as the metal shattered and the residents emerged. Catching hold of the first one that came past, Tails tugged them over to the hedgehog's prone body.

"You gotta help Sonic! He saved all a you an' now you gotta save him 'cause ol' Robotnik burned him real bad on'y you can't put him in a bath 'cause he hates water an' he keeps coughing an' coughing an' coughing an' you all gotta _do_ something 'cause..." Tails' voice broke slightly, but he made a valiant effort to continue, "'cause...if he dies...he _can't_ die, 'cause then he'd be leaving me all 'lone an' he _promised_ he wasn't gonna do that, not _ever_."

Someone took his hand and Tails looked up into the face of a dove, who smiled down at him.

"You come along with me."

"I can't leave Sonic!"

"You won't have to. I'm one of the nurses at the hospital. Come on, let's get you and Sonic sorted out, okay?"

Tails sniffed noisily. "'Kay." As another one of the residents lifted Sonic's unconscious form up into his arms, he darted forward and seized the hedgehog's hand in both his, trotting alongside and looking up into Sonic's face anxiously.

It was late the next morning when Sonic finally came to, much to the little fox's relief.

"You're awake!" Tails hurled himself on top of Sonic, provoking an agonised yelp from the hedgehog. Contrite, the little fox scrambled back so quickly he hit the floor with an audible thud.

"Sonic, I'm real sorry, I didn't _mean_ for you to get all burned and stuff, _honest_. If you wanna get mad an' yell at me an' never cuddle me again, 'sokay, but please don't be dead as well, Sonic." Remorse flooded Tails and he bit his lip furiously in an effort to stop the tears. "I'm real sorry, Sonic," he repeated miserably. "I was on'y trying to help."

Sonic held a hand out to the side. "C'mere squirt." His voice was rough, almost gravelly, but it was there and most importantly of all to the little fox, it didn't sound mad either.

Scampering over, Tails seized the offered hand and squeezed it as hard as he could, rubbing it against his face and giggling as the hedgehog reached up to scratch him behind one ear, moving on to a fur ruffle.

"You did help me, kiddo."

Tails shook his head, miserable again. "Nuh uh. I didn't _know_ the black ground'd be all hot, honest. I didn't wanna get you burned an' coughing for ages. How come you're not coughing, Sonic?"

The hedgehog managed a grin. "They gave me some medicine, Tails."

"Med'cine?" Tails looked scandalised. "Did it taste bad, Sonic? Real bad? Real real bad?"

"Real, real, _real_ bad," Sonic assured him with a dramatic shudder.

"That's good 'cause otherwise it's not proper med'cine. Med'cine's not real med'cine 'less it tastes all yucky an' you gotta have it loadsa times a day."

Sonic let his head drop back onto his pillow with a broad grin. "Oh man, squirt, I missed you while I was unconscious." Turning his head to look at Tails, he added, "That's twice you've saved my life now."

Tails' ears, which had been drooping slightly at Sonic's mention of unconsciousness, perked again. "It _is_?"

"Sure. Once in Chemical Plant, and once here." The hedgehog retrieved his hand, still grinning. "Am I ever glad I brought you along, kiddo." He closed his eyes. "Now do me a favour and keep quiet, okay? Because I'm still exhausted and I want some more sleep."

"Okay," Tails said readily, then added in a stage whisper, "Sonic?"

"Mph?"

"Uh. I don't wanna make you mad, but..." His voice trailed off.

Alarm bells ringing loudly, Sonic opened his eyes again. "But what?"

Tails ducked his namesakes between his legs. "Well...next time people wanna give me food, c'n I take it? Please? 'Cause I'm real hungry, Sonic, real _real_ hungry, but you said I couldn't use your name to get free food an' they're on'y off'ring it to me 'cause I'm your sidekick but...c'n I have it? Please?"

The hedgehog closed his eyes. "Tails, when I said that, I didn't mean...I thought you'd..."

"What?" Tails said anxiously.

"Doesn't matter," Sonic said thickly. "Sure. Take the food."

"Okay!" Tails leapt up again eagerly. "You want me to get you food too, Sonic?"

"Mmm?"

There was a short pause.

"Um. Was that a yes or a no?" Tails asked eventually.

"Mm."

The little fox hesitated. Part of him said that Sonic must be hungry after going so long without food, but that part was severely squashed by the memories of what had happened in Casino Night Zone.

Well...if he saved half of the food that Sonic said he could have, that'd be okay...wouldn't it?

A little nervous, but still determined to do what he thought would make Sonic happy, Tails sat down and waited for the nurse to come in so he could ask her for food. Even his hunger wouldn't make him leave the hedgehog's side.

Sonic didn't wake up for another three days, and by the time he did Tails was so worried he'd refused any further offers of food and had spent his whole time staring hopefully at Sonic or, for a change, looking out the window.

It was when he was in this second position that the little fox heard a sudden cough from behind him and he spun around to see Sonic looking at him.

"Hiya squirt."

"SONIC!" Tails rushed over and it was only the memory of the pain Sonic had suffered last time that stopped him jumping on the hedgehog in his excitement. "Sonic, are you okay? Are you gonna die? _Did_ you die?"

"Yes, I don't think so and no," Sonic answered, grinning. He'd been drifting in and out of consciousness for those past three days, unfortunately when Tails had been fast asleep and Sonic had only woken up to swallow some of the medicine the nurses insisted on pouring down his throat.

"You're okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine, Tails, thanks to you."

"Um." Tails flattened his ears nervously. This was it. The moment of truth. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"I...uh..." Tails scuffed one toe on the ground. "Well..."

Sonic closed his eyes. "Alright squirt, out with it. How much have you managed to cost me this time?"

"Nothing!" Tails said indignantly, scowling at him. "But...I jus' thought you might be hungry an' I 'membered what you said in Casino Night Zone so I saved you half of my food 'cause you said I could have it an' I can, right Sonic?" He held out half a chilli dog.

Sonic glanced at it, then looked away. "Jeez, kiddo, how long have you been saving that for me?"

"Three days!"

"Yeah, I figured." The hedgehog shook his head, grinning slightly. "Thanks for the thought, Tails, but when it comes to chilli dogs, I prefer the kind without fur if it's all the same to you."

"Oh." Tails looked down at the furry chilli dog in question, then back up at the hedgehog. "Can I eat it, then?"

Sonic's face contorted in disgust. "You _want_ to eat something like that? Tails, it's gone bad!"

"So?" Tails brought the rancid chilli dog up to his now widely opened mouth but Sonic reached out, catching hold of the little fox's wrist.

"No, kiddo. Let's get some fresh food. You can throw that away; it'll only make you sick if you eat it."

Tails dropped the chilli dog as though he'd been electrocuted and backed away, wiping his hands on his fur as Sonic managed to sit upright, rubbing his forehead in an attempt to dispel some of the dizziness there. Taking this as a sign that Sonic was better, if not completely recovered, Tails padded across and clambered onto the bed to sit next to him.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

Tails shivered, wriggling closer and snuggling into the crook of Sonic's arm, burying his face in the hedgehog's side. "I've changed my mind. Saving the world's not cool an' fun; it's scary."

"Yeah," Sonic said very quietly, rubbing Tails' shoulder. "It is, isn't it?"

Tails nodded vigorously, namesakes winding around Sonic's waist.

"Maybe now you understand why I don't like talking about what happened between me and Robotnik," the hedgehog said after a few minutes' silence.

Another nod, followed by more silence.

"Sonic?" Tails said hoarsely at the end of it.

"Yeah, lil buddy?"

Tails looked up into Sonic's face. "Sonic, I wanna stop. I don't wanna fight ol' Robotnik anymore, I wanna go home. Can we stop fighting him now, Sonic? Please?"

"Oh kiddo." Sonic lifted Tails onto his lap and held him there, closing his eyes against the sting of tears.

_What the hell was I thinking, bringing him into all this? He's just a little kid._

"Can we stop, Sonic? Huh? I don't wanna do this anymore, it's getting scary an' I was almost whumped by ol' Robotnik back in Casino Night Zone. An' you were almost whumped by him here." Tails wound both arms around Sonic's waist, reaching out to rub a deadly quill in fascination before looking up at him. "I don't want you to be almost whumped, Sonic."

"Tails...kiddo..." Sonic's voice was rough and he coughed, tried again. "I would _love_ to be able to stop fighting Robotnik and just kick back and relax for the rest of my life. But I can't." He took a deep breath. "There has to be a family somewhere who'd take you in, though; there's no reason for you to stay in this fight."

Tails' eyes grew big. "But then I wouldn't be with you, would I?"

Sonic swallowed. "No, kiddo, you wouldn't. But you'd be safe."

"Sonic, why can't we just go somewhere ol' Robotnik won't ever find us?"

"I don't think there's any such place on the whole of Mobius, Tails. And I can't surrender. It's..." Sonic broke off, cleared his throat and started again. "Robotnik being here is my fault."

"_Your_ fault?" Tails' eyes grew, if it was possible, even bigger. "But _you_ didn't make him, Sonic. You...oh." Comprehension spread across his face. "You mean 'cause you couldn't whump him after Sky Base. But that's okay, Sonic. You didn't let him go."

_Wrong, kiddo; I did._

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

Tails flattened his ears. "C'n I ask you something without making you sad?"

"What's that, kiddo?"

"How come you don't like being in comics an' ev'rything?"

Sonic racked his brains, trying to think of a way to explain it so that Tails would understand. "Well...you remember how the other kids used to bully you?"

A nod.

"How would you feel if someone drew a comic of you being the leader and them all looking up to you?"

"Great!"

Sonic grimaced. "Okay, bad example. I just...don't want to remember what happened on Green Island, because that's what makes me sad."

Tails frowned. "I thought it was called South Island."

"It is on all the maps, but it's the only island in a group of islands that isn't volcanic and the only one that's inhabited. Whenever people were asking for a place to stay, they'd be sent to South Island and when they always asked which one that was, they'd be told, 'You know, the green island'. It kinda stuck."

The little fox looked up at him. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"Once you've whumped ol' Robotnik again, can we go back to your home on Sou—Green Island?"

The hedgehog hesitated, then shook his head. "No, squirt. I don't think that would be a very good idea."

"Huh?" Tails' eyes widened and took on a hurt expression. "How come?"

Sonic didn't answer for a long time, too busy reliving the last conversation he'd had with Mighty in Green Hill Zone.

_"Take your precious Tornado and get the hell out of this Zone. I never want to see you again and if you ever come back, I'll tell every newspaper on Mobius what really happened."_

Not that Sonic really thought he would anymore – the armadillo had been civil enough to him back in Emerald Hill Zone, after all – but he didn't much want to take the chance.

"I just don't." Sonic tried a smile. "C'mon kiddo; we can go anywhere else on Mobius but Green Island."

"But I wanna see where you growed up, Sonic! An' where you whumped ol' Robotnik!"

Sonic shook his head. "No, squirt."

Tails sighed gustily. "O-_kay_. Mebbe someday, huh Sonic?"

"Yeah. Maybe."

There was a silence.

"Tails?" Sonic said suddenly.

"Yup?"

The hedgehog hesitated, then said, "I…need your advice on something."

Tails' chest inflated so much it almost lifted him off the ground. "_My_ advice? Sure!" He put on an expression which he thought was very wise and thoughtful and instead made him look like he had a wasp in his mouth, but Sonic barely noticed.

"You admire me, right Tails?"

"Sure!" Tails said again, "'cause you're Sonic the hedgehog."

Sonic's mind worked rapidly, trying to come up with a way of asking this question that wouldn't let this extraordinarily smart little fox cub know the truth.

"Suppose…suppose I started doing bad things, Tails. Things like Robotnik does. Would you try and stop me?"

Tails backed off, looking alarmed. "You're not gonna join forces with him, are you?"

"Not a chance, squirt. But…say something happened. Say I went nuts and went around acting like Robotnik. Would you stop me?"

Tails hoisted himself onto the bed and sat next to Sonic, swinging his legs and thinking hard before finally saying, "Well, sure. But it'd make me real sad, Sonic, 'cause we're buddies, right? Right?"

"You bet we're buddies," Sonic assured him, then continued. "It wouldn't…you wouldn't feel like you couldn't or shouldn't hurt me because we used to be so close?"

Tails scrunched up his face like he always did when thinking hard, then said, "Nuh uh."

"Why not?"

"Well, 'cause you stop bad guys an' help people out an' I know that if you weren't nuts you'd want me to stop you if you _did_ go nuts 'cause that's the kinda thing you did before going nuts in the first place, if you ever did."

Sonic frowned slightly. "You wanna run that by me again, Tails?"

"Well…say you went from Cool Sonic to Not-Cool Sonic an' Not-Cool Sonic went around whumping everything like ol' Robotnik does?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I gotta stop Not-Cool Sonic, because that's what Cool Sonic woulda wanted. He wouldn't want to be not cool an' if he was he'd prob'ly want someone to stop him before he whumped everybody in the whole wide _world_!" Tails flung both arms out to emphasise and accidentally hit Sonic in the snout. "Oops. Sorry."

"It's okay, kiddo." In fact it was better than okay; Sonic felt unaccountably lighter and more like his old self than he had since Robotnik had first showed up. On a sudden whim, he seized Tails, pulled him back onto his lap and tickled him until—

"Hey, no kicking!" Sonic said, jerking away. Tails looked up at him, still giggling.

"I'm sorry, Sonic. I didn't mean to, honest. 'S jus' whenever anyone tickles me real hard on the tummy my leg jus' kinda moves by itself. How come it does that, Sonic? It never did that before." Managing to regain enough control over himself to sit up, Tails added, "But nobody ever tickled me before, so mebbe that's it, huh Sonic?"

"Yeah. Maybe it is." Sonic pushed himself to his feet. "C'mon squirt, let's get going."

He pushed open the door and came face to face with one of the nurses, who took a step back.

"You're awake?"

"Yeah, I'm awake," Sonic said lightly, then stretched. "Which is the next Zone?"

The nurse blinked before saying, "Well…Mystic Cave, I guess. There's an entrance about five miles away." She considered for a few moments before adding, "I suppose it's not worth my telling you to rest for a while longer, or at least take it slow?"

"Mystic Cave?" Sonic repeated, ignoring this outlandish request.

"That's cool, huh Sonic?" Tails piped up. "'Cause I used to live in a cave before you came along an' 'dopted me!"

"We'll have to talk about that," Sonic said flatly. Adoption was one step too far, at least as far as he was concerned. Glancing at the nurse, he smiled broadly. "So where exactly is this entrance, then?"

Okay, so it did take a little while to finish, I admit :P Then again, this one takes the prize for the longest chapter (in any of my fics) and writing something this length takes time ;) Anyway, hope you liked it and if you read, please review!


	12. Mystic Cave Zone

**Awdures: Thanks; glad you enjoyed it :D**

**Maverick87: (blushes) Thanks :) I gotta admit I have a lot of fun doing the dialogue**

**D.C.111: Thanks :D 'Long' is a pretty good way of describing it :P And Sonic's conversation with Tails...yup, you got it :D**

**DragonRaiderX9: Me get point; me glad you like ;)**

**FriedBrickWall: Thanks :)**

**Taryn Wander'r: Thanks; glad you liked it :D**

**Asher Tye: Thanks :D Emerald Hill Zone...to be honest, I think the other Zones have their fair share of jerks too, only not ones stupid enough to pick on the guys who just saved them ;)**

**Poridet: (blushes) Thanks, glad you liked that part :P Sonic's psyche...heh, yeah. He still has a lot of emotional baggage left over from _Sonic 1_ ;)**

**Private somebody: (blushes again) Thanks :P I loved Tails' line in the volcano as well ;) Cliffhangers...this story isn't about cliffhangers. After you've saved an entire Zone and are about to move onto the next one, there's not much of a cliffhanger to be milked ;) **

**TC Chan: (grins) Thanks. Sonic in hospital...well, I figured that you couldn't stand in the middle of a grassfire without getting hurt somehow :P And I promise that once Sonic and Tails arrive in Metropolis Zone, you will get to find out exactly what happens in that publishing house ;)**

**Hawk's Soul: (goes red and scuffs toe on ground _a la_ Tails) Wow…thanks :) I'm glad you liked it so much :D**

**Truten: Thanks :D Mighty the armadillo…actually, he's one of my favourite characters too. Rest assured he will be making another appearance later on in this fic ;)**

**TrueVulcanRaven: Thanks…I try my best :)**

**Sonic-Addict:D Thanks. Tails' bot-whumping...yeah, I think he's starting to realise that it's not all fun and games ;)**

**Lewisty: Thanks :D**

**Shadow-spawn180: Heh, thanks :P Tails' verbs...yeah, I have a lot of fun coming up with those ;) Glad you liked the battle scene as well :D**

**Professor Vengeance: (big grin) Thanks :D Writing Tails is something of a challenge for me; I've never tried doing a four year old before...I'm glad it's working ;)**

**Parslie: Thanks :D**

**Elizabeth the Bathog: Thanks, and I shall indeed continue :)**

**DragonUk: Heh, okay, here; it's updated :P (eyes drooling dog nervously)**

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

Tails looked up from where he was playing with the toy dinosaurs one of the nurses had scrounged for him, fixing the hedgehog with an appealing look. It was a _good_ appealing look too; he'd been practising in front of the mirror all morning.

"C'n we stay here?"

"We already are," Sonic said, somewhat testily. His irritation wasn't due to Tails, but to the fact that they'd been in Hill Top Zone for a week now and the nurses had only just allowed him to get out of bed, and he'd had to fight hard for that privilege. The thought of leaving the Zone was out of the question.

"I mean forever. 'Cause it's real cool here an' nobody's called me a freak an' ev'ryone loves you an' I got a warm place to sleep an' a bed with blankets to snuggle into an' people feed me an' there's _loadsa_ mud to roll in an'—"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about that," Sonic cut across. "One of the nurses – well, all of them, in fact – complained that you won't take a bath."

Tails yipped as though Sonic had threatened him with a branding iron, both hands clamped over his ears.

"I don't take baths! They're icky an' yucky an' real real wet!"

"One of them says you bit her."

Tails yipped again, this time in indignation. "I did _not_ bite her, Sonic! I was jus' yelping an' she stuck her hand in my mouth at the wrong time!"

Sonic folded his arms, staring hard at Tails. "If I ever find out for sure that you've been biting people, I'll send you back to Emerald Hill Zone. You got that?"

Tails' eyes grew huge, full of hurt. "Y-you can't! You said we were buddies!"

"We _are_ buddies, but we won't be if you go around biting people." Tails looked so genuinely frightened at Sonic's threat that the hedgehog was moved to reach out and fondle one large ear. "C'mon kiddo, don't look so scared."

Tails flattened his ears. "I didn't mean to bite, honest. 'S jus' that..." He broke off.

"Just what?" Sonic said coolly.

"Jus' that...two nurses came in an' said I had to go with 'em an' I said I didn't wanna leave you an' they jus' picked me up an' started carrying me an'...an' I thought it was gonna be like when I got thrown out my house an' I got scared an'..." Tails looked away, sniffing loudly, then back at Sonic, eyes brimming. "I'm real sorry, Sonic. I didn't wanna, honest."

Sonic took a deep breath, then expelled it in a sigh. "It's okay, squirt. Stay here a minute; I gotta go do something."

"C'n I have a Chaos Emerald to guard?"

"Sure." Sonic passed the blue one – Tails' favourite – over to the little fox. He knew full well the real reason behind Tails' request; the fox knew that Sonic wouldn't leave without all the Chaos Emeralds and all the time he had one, Sonic wouldn't leave without him either.

Leaving the little fox to his games, Sonic strode through the building, limping slightly, until he tracked down one of the nurses in question.

"Let Tails alone," he said curtly.

Somewhat taken aback by this brusque greeting, the nurse blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"You heard me. Next time you want him to do something and he refuses, come and get me, wake me up, ask me but don't try and force him."

Without waiting for a reply to this curt order, he turned and walked out again, nodding to the occasional person who seemed to recognise him (although he hadn't a clue who they were, but he was getting used to that now).

"Where'd you go?" Tails wanted to know.

"Just to sort one or two things out, that's all." Sonic folded his arms. "Now about this bath—"

Tails yipped.

"—you're having at least one a week. That way you won't get _too_ muddy."

"But I gotta be muddy so's I can look cute an' get food!"

The hedgehog rolled his eyes. "Tails, if I ever abandon you and you have to go back to begging for food, then you don't have to have a bath again. Okay?"

Tails eyed him warily. "_Are_ you gonna 'bandon me?"

"No. But I _am_ going to clean you up."

Tails' small face scrunched up into a puzzled frown. "But how come I gotta have a bath, Sonic? 'Cause I'm on'y gonna get dirty again, so why do I gotta be cleaned up?"

Sonic folded his arms. "I'm not going to discuss this with you. Into the tub."

Tails flattened his ears. "If I gotta be bathed once a week, then _I_ get to pick the day."

The hedgehog rolled his eyes, settling back onto his bed and picking up the book he'd been reading. "Okay, fine, but you pick it now for good, understand?"

"For all the rest of my life?"

"Yeah."

Tails hesitated, then nodded. "Okay. I pick Wednesday, 'cause it's the middle of the week an' so it won't be too bad!"

"And because today happens to be Thursday," Sonic said pleasantly.

"Yup!" Tails returned his attention to his dinosaurs and made the triceratops eat the diplodocus, the ceratosaurus, the pteranodon, the ankylosaurus and the iguanodon before being eaten in turn by the stegosaurus who was valiantly protecting the tyrannosaurus rex, then he looked up at the hedgehog again. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"If ol' Robotnik hadn't come an' made you whump him, what would you do every day? What would you do for a job?"

Sonic glanced down. "Well...I used to want to be in a band."

Tails gawked at him for a few minutes, jaw dangling, then shrieked with laughter.

"No, I'm serious. There was me and two other kids. We called ourselves Hogs in the Hedge."

"Were you real good?"

The hedgehog winked at him. "Well, we thought so. I think we were the only ones, though."

"What kinda songs did you sing?"

Sonic laughed. "Mostly ones that had been copied from our favourite band, only with a couple of words changed."

"Yeah?" Tails looked down to where the stegosaurus was apparently eating the triceratops, then made it go to sleep next to the tyrannosaurus – Sonic's story was far more interesting – and fixed the hedgehog with his best attentive look. "What is your favourite band?"

Sonic shrugged. "I like most music. When I was a kid it was always The Underground; they're hedgehogs like me, and they're from Green Hill Zone so me and the other kids all got to bask in their reflected glory."

"Huh." Tails had heard of The Underground – who hadn't – but hadn't bothered much about listening to their music. Something struck him and he grinned.

"What's funny?" Sonic asked.

"I was jus' wond'ring what kinda music ol' Robotnik likes." The thought of the doctor leaning back in a chair with a discman on was so funny Tails giggled. "Boy, it'd be real funny if he liked the same kinda music an' stuff as you, huh Sonic? An' it'd be real funny if you were best friends 'steada being enemies an' trying to whump each other all the time, huh? Don't you think that'd be funny, Sonic?"

But Sonic, for no reason that the little fox could fathom, had turned away.

* * *

"Sonic?"

"Yeah, lil buddy?"

"Are you scared of the dark?"

Sonic looked around. The word _dark_ didn't really do justice to the Mystic Cave Zone, in the same way that _damp_ was a somewhat inadequate description for the ocean.

"Not really," he said, glancing at the little fox (or at least in his general direction). "Why? Are you?"

"Nuh uh!" Tails denied vehemently, and also somewhat untruthfully; he was squeezing Sonic's hand so tightly that the hedgehog couldn't feel his fingers anymore. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?" Sonic said patiently.

The little fox shivered, pressing so close that Sonic almost trod on his foot. "There aren't any spiders down here, are there?"

"Feral ones, you mean?" Sonic shrugged. "I dunno. They like dark places like this, so maybe."

Tails yipped in alarm. "S'pose one lands on me, Sonic?"

"Suppose it doesn't?" Sonic countered automatically. He'd rapidly discovered that like most people, he had a built in autopilot for dealing with little kids. "Anyway, you told me you weren't scared of spiders anymore."

"An' I'm _not_," Tails said, again not wholly truthfully. "I jus' don't wann'em crawling on me 'cause…'cause they might get lost in my fur now it's all puffy."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "It's not all puffy, Tails." He'd finally managed to get the little fox into a bath the night before they left Hill Top Zone, and Tails' fur had had the most thorough cleansing of its life, the end result being soft, crackly with static electricity and almost impossible to control.

"Is too," Tails mumbled.

"It doesn't matter, anyway," Sonic said. "You're clean, which means you look a lot better than you did before."

"I _look_ like a pompom, Sonic!"

"That too."

Tails sulked. "How'm I s'posed to look all 'draggled an' junk an' get tourists to gimme food when I'm clean?"

"You're not, kiddo. That's kind of the point." Sonic caught his foot in a crack, stumbled and then managed to catch himself. "Shoot, would it kill them to turn the damn lights on once in a while?" There was a short pause and then his hand, which had been questing along the wall, encountered a lever and he pulled it hard.

There was a brief spark, and lanterns glowed into life from where they were strung along between what looked like wooden pillars.

Tails gave a huge sigh of relief. "That's better, huh Sonic?"

"You bet it is, squirt." It was too; Sonic was no longer as averse to fighting Robotnik as before, but he still didn't like the idea of fighting the doctor in pitch darkness.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

Tails looked up at him solemnly. "Am I a doorbell?"

"A...a what?"

"A doorbell," Tails repeated.

"Uh...no." Sonic frowned. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, it's on'y 'cause when you were in hosp'tal a nurse kep' saying I was a doorbell, but I thought doorbells were things that went ding-dong when you pushed 'em, Sonic, an' I've never gone ding-dong when people pushed _me_ so how come she said I was a doorbell, huh Sonic? How come?"

Light dawned and Sonic laughed. "Adorable, you mean?"

"That's what I said," Tails pointed out reasonably. "How come she thinks I'm a doorbell?"

"A-dor-a-ble," Sonic repeated, grinning broadly.

Tails frowned. "A dirigible?"

The hedgehog gave up on this explanation, settling instead for saying, "She means she thinks you're cute."

The perplexed frown deepened. "But I'm not cute, Sonic; I'm an ugly li'l freak, 'member?"

"You're not ugly, kiddo, and you're sure not a freak either."

"Well, 's on'y you what thinks that, 'cause ev'ryone else called me that an' you're jus' saying it 'cause you like me. You do still like me, right Sonic?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "How could I _not_ like you, Tails?"

"I dunno, but ev'ryone back in Em'rald Hill Zone sure manages to. Sonic, how come you don't believe what those guys said 'bout me being an ugly li'l freak? 'Cause they gotta be right 'cause they kept saying it over an' over an' over an' they wouldn't lemme play with 'em unless _I_ said it too an' then they'd say that this was why they didn't wanna play with me." Tails paused for breath. "How come you don't believe them, Sonic?"

"I don't believe them because they were lying, kiddo." When Tails continued to look unconvinced, Sonic persisted. "You think I lie?"

Tails shook his head vigorously, beaming. "Nuh uh, 'cause you're Sonic the hedgehog!"

Sonic took a long, deep breath. It was long past time he addressed this particular issue.

"Tails...kiddo, you gotta stop putting me up on some golden pedestal."

"What's a pesadil?"

"I mean you gotta stop worshipping me, squirt. It's not good."

"But I don't worship you, Sonic. 'S on'y worshipping if I pray to you an' offer you stuff an' nobody's done _that_, not for hundreds an' prob'ly millions an' billions an' trillions an' squillions of years."

Sonic tried another tack. "Just because I'm Sonic the hedgehog doesn't mean I don't make mistakes sometimes."

Tails giggled. "You're real funny, Sonic. You're a hero an' heroes don't make mistakes, not _ever_."

"Everyone makes mistakes," Sonic said darkly.

"You haven't though. Not never, not since I first met you."

The hedgehog sighed. "That's not true, Tails. I made plenty of mistakes. You're – don't take this the wrong way – you're just too young to see them."

Tails puzzled over this for a few minutes before deciding that Sonic was only kidding – whoever heard of Sonic the hedgehog making mistakes? – and then peered up at him.

"You didn't answer my question, Sonic. Am I cute?"

"Well...to someone who finds little baby foxes with great big tails and big eyes cute, sure."

"I'm not a _baby_!" Tails said indignantly. "Babies cry all the time, Sonic, an' they're real stinky too, an' I'm not stinky!"

"I get it. You just cry all the time, is that what you're saying?"

"Nuh uh!" Tails pummelled the hedgehog on the arm. "'S not crying 'less you do it real loud, Sonic, as loud as THIS!" 'This' was shouted at the top of the fox's lungs and almost immediately bounced off the surrounding walls.

Tails ears perked. "_Cool_!" Raising both hands to his mouth, he yelled, "HI!" giggling as his own voice reverberated in the blackness. "LEEK BUN!"

"Leek bun?" Sonic repeated, as soon as the echoes had died away.

"Yeah! I on'y had one once but I love leek buns! Don't you?" Without waiting for a reply, Tails filled his lungs again and shouted, "PELLA FRUIT!"

"Tails!" Sonic hissed.

"YEAH?"

"Stop shouting! Robotnik might hear you!"

"Huh? Ohhh." Tails lowered his voice obediently. "C'n I play with the voice thing after we've whumped ol' Robotnik?"

Sonic grimaced. "I don't think the people living here would like that, kiddo, do you?"

Tails shrugged. "I dunno. Sonic, c'n I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what?"

The little fox caught hold of Sonic's hand, swinging it happily and with almost enough enthusiasm to dislocate the hedgehog's shoulder.

"I wanna know what makes you mad, Sonic. 'Cause I always try to say an' do stuff you like so's you won't wanna dump me somewhere, but you always end up mad at me or sniffling, so what makes you mad? An' sad?"

Sonic smiled slightly. "Nice thought, kiddo, but it's not that simple."

"How come not?" Tails reached back to explore Sonic's quills – something that held endless fascination for the little fox – and frowned slightly as his inquisitive hand encountered something hard. "What's that?" Curious, Tails pulled it out, examining it. It was nothing special, just a small stone, or rather half a stone, jet black and shiny, pointed at one end.

"Tails, give me that back." There was a sharp note in Sonic's voice that Tails hadn't heard very much and he held out the rock obediently.

"I was on'y curious, Sonic. What is it?"

Retrieving the stone, Sonic hesitated, then held it out for the little fox to examine.

"It's obsidian. Mighty and I found it back on Green Island when we were exploring, and we couldn't decide which one of us should have it so his father broke it in half. I was only a couple years older than you."

"How come you still got it?"

Sonic's fingers closed over the black stone. "It's all I got, squirt. It's all I got to remind me of how things were before Robotnik came along."

"Where's Mighty's dad now?"

"Dead," Sonic said quietly. "All his family died when Robotnik attacked Green Hill Zone; parents, grandparents, everything. Mighty was the only survivor."

"Ohhh." Tails frowned slightly. "So how come he didn't come with you?"

"He...didn't want to," Sonic answered evasively.

"How come?"

The hedgehog sighed. "I'll tell you when you're older, kiddo."

"But...Sonic..." The rest of Tails' words were lost in an enormous yawn and Sonic glanced at the little fox and managed a smile.

"C'mon. You're beat. Let's get some sleep; I think we're safe enough here."

"But wha' if ol' 'botnik jus' wants us to _think_ so's he c'n come an' whump...us..." Tails yawned again.

Sonic winked. "Tell you what. You get some sleep and I'll watch out for old Robotnik."

"But I'm no' sleepy," Tails protested. At least, Sonic thought he did; the fox had yawned again at the same time as speaking and his words were somewhat indistinct.

"Yeah, right." Sonic sat down, bracing himself against one of the wooden posts. "Take a load off, squirt."

"Huh?" Tails frowned. "Off where?"

The hedgehog shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Just sleep."

"Oh. Okay." Tails clambered into the startled hedgehog's lap, turned around three times, then curled up into a tight little ball and snuggled into Sonic's stomach.

For his part, Sonic wasn't too keen on the idea of going to sleep. Despite his words to the little fox, he wasn't convinced that they _were _safe. Besides, if the sounds now emanating from the fluffy ball on his lap were anything to go by...Tails wasn't exactly a snorer – at least, not often – but he _was_ noisy when it came to getting to sleep; all the little muffled squeaks and yawns and occasional burbling sound meant that Sonic couldn't have dropped off even if he'd wanted to.

"Sonic..."

"Hm?" Sonic glanced down before realising that Tails had been talking in his sleep and he shook his head. The little fox's intense loyalty and devotion to him made the hedgehog a little uneasy. He was gregarious by nature, but he still wasn't happy at the thought of being adored, and certainly not so openly.

While he was still trying to figure out what to do for the best, Sonic fell asleep.

A soft whine of motors woke him some few hours later and he jerked upright, alert to a possible threat before he really knew what was happening.

A robotic beetle the size of his head buzzed closer, albeit almost painfully slowly, and Sonic tensed. Getting carefully to his feet, edging out so as not to disturb the still soundly sleeping Tails, he prepared himself for a spindash.

The beetle flared suddenly, burning with a yellow light so brilliant that Sonic had to shade his eyes.

Something rammed him in the stomach, sending him flying. Instinct took over and he rolled, coming up lightly onto the balls of his feet and launching himself at the now dark beetle, destroying it.

_That's got it_.

Movement out the corner of the eye warned him and he leapt to one side as what looked like a particularly deadly caterpillar (or possibly snake) exploded from the foliage. It missed him more by luck than judgment and retreated again, watching.

_Damn that green stuff_! Sonic thought furiously. Mystic Cave Zone didn't have trees or plants in the normal sense of the word, but it _did_ have plenty of leafmoss.

As its name suggested, leafmoss was a kind of very rapidly spreading moss with vast leaves that covered the floor, the ceiling, the walls and just about everything else except for paths through the Zone, which were all in immaculate condition. With the dim lighting, it looked very nice (and Sonic could see why Mystic Cave Zone did such a roaring trade in honeymoons and just about anything else intimate and romantic) but right here and now, it was a damn nuisance!

_He's getting better though_, the hedgehog thought grimly as he lured the bot out of hiding again and this time put it out of commission. _He's never built two robots that worked together before. One to blind you while the other one knocks you down...yes, very clever._

He double-checked to make sure Tails was still sleeping soundly, tucked two Chaos Emeralds into the little fox's namesakes – he didn't dare risk leaving more unattended – and slipped off. If this double-teaming of bots was going to be a recurring theme throughout the Zone, he wanted to destroy as many as possible before Tails' too-curious feet took him right into a trap.

Leaping nimbly onto a bridge (which promptly collapsed underneath him) Sonic jumped onto a nearby platform and raced along at near top speed, smashing bots so instinctively that he barely even registered their presence.

Pausing for breath, he looked up at the wall in front of him, once which he could see curved over into another road.

_Too high to jump up and no platforms either...man, how am I supposed to get up there?_

Something rustled in the foliage ahead and Sonic backed off. He'd already had a couple of close calls with the caterpillar bots that kept erupting from the ground (or occasionally the ceiling) and he was in no mood for another one.

Spikes shot out from the wall and Sonic barely managed to jump in time, landing on a brick pillar that continued moving until the spikes on one end cleared the edge of the ledge.

Another pillar, identical to the first, slid out on top of it but Sonic was ready this time and leapt neatly on top, riding it over the ledge.

He _wasn't_, however, prepared for the third pillar – in his lexicon, one trap was almost expected, two traps were acceptable but three were pure paranoia – which was why he overbalanced in his haste to get away and fell neatly off the edge into a Star Post.

_Well, why not_?

Glancing over his shoulder to make sure Tails was still fast asleep (although as far as he knew, time on Mobius seemed to stop when you were in the Special Zone) Sonic leapt through the circle of stars.

It was only after he'd barely made enough rings the first time that he realised how much he'd come to rely on Tails. Sure, the little fox was impulsive, but he was also very good at collecting rings. Granted he hadn't quite managed the trick of dodging bombs yet, but still, he didn't do too badly.

_Yeah? Well, you're just gonna have to do this like you did before you had Tails. Alone._

Sonic picked up the pace. It wasn't easy; there were more bombs and fewer rings here than ever before, despite the basic layout being the same.

That was a thought; did he really go to a different Special Zone each time, or was it the same one but different? Or was it one long, endless tunnel, going on and on and he just happened to come in and go out at different points?

A gleam up ahead caught his eye and he picked up the pace, weaving in between rows of bombs, leaping over others and snatching as many rings as he could in between. Ahead, the yellow Chaos Emerald shone mockingly as it hovered just out of reach.

Sonic could feel terrific suction building up behind him – that was sort of how this place worked; for some reason the rings neutralised the suction and if you had enough, you could break free – and swerved wildly as another few rings appeared, feeling one dissolve as he touched it.

It was only one, but it was enough. Sonic put on an extra burst of speed and reached out. His fingers barely brushed the Emerald, slid off and he gritted his teeth. He didn't dare jump; the suction now was so powerful that without the friction of his sneakers on the ground, he'd be gone in a heartbeat.

_Come on...come on, just a little further..._

He caught hold of the edge with two fingers and managed to swing his body around to cup the gem in one arm. And froze. And stared.

He'd never seen what caused the suction before, had never wanted to or even thought about it, and now he wished he hadn't.

The Zone was crumbling. There were no stars, no golden rings, just utter blackness devouring everything behind him, and getting closer fast.

_What's going to happen if that catches me_? Sonic didn't know, but he didn't think he'd like it.

_Easy. Easy. You got the Emerald, you've never been hurt by this thing before when you had the Emerald. Just wait and you'll be transported back._

That was all very well, but it didn't seem to be happening. Nor did the Emerald seem to want to move; the others had all slid neatly into Sonic's hold, but the yellow one was proving strangely stubborn.

Did he have enough rings? He thought he had, otherwise he'd never have made it to the Emerald in the first place, but had he lost some when he grabbed it?

The blackness was almost on him now. Sonic clutched the Emerald to his chest, closed his eyes and braced himself.

It was lucky he had, as the next thing he knew he'd arrived some six feet above the same Star Post he'd used to enter and had been sent flying through the air as though he'd been kicked. Rolling automatically, he looked down and saw he was still holding the yellow Emerald tightly.

Relief coupled with released adrenaline poured through him and he let his head drop to the ground with an audible thud.

_That's it. Done, finished, dusted. Six Emeralds, that's all there were; I don't need to go back there again._

Something brushed against his quill and he surged to his feet, spinning and curling into a ball reflexively, and it was only Tails' yelp that stopped him from being neatly bisected.

"Sonic! Sonic, it's me! Where'd you go? What'd you do?" Tails caught sight of the yellow Emerald and his eyes bugged out. "You got another Chaos Emerald!"

"Yeah." Sonic held out the gem. "The last one."

Tails looked at it, sniffed it, then turned a hurt expression on Sonic.

"You got the last Chaos Em'rald an' you didn't take _me_?"

"You were asleep, kiddo." Sonic got to his feet and held out a hand. "C'mon. Let's keep moving."

They went on for about half an hour before coming to an abrupt halt at a log bridge, mainly because they'd just run out of road and the wall ahead went straight up to the ceiling with no way through.

Sonic stood in the middle of the log bridge, frowning, then looked back to where the moss and stone pounder he and Tails had just leapt over was still moving up and down relentlessly.

_I came through there, and you don't go to all the trouble of building a bridge that doesn't go anywhere, so how..._ He frowned. _There must be a way down somewhere, but where_?

"Hey Sonic! Look what I can do! Lookit!"

"Yeah, great," Sonic said without looking around. His frown deepened. _So how..._

"You're not even looking!" Tails protested.

"Yeah," Sonic said again, while wondering how on Mobius he was supposed to proceed.

Hovering above him, Tails huffed. Well, if Sonic wouldn't see his real cool trick, he'd just have to do it without the hedgehog watching!

Landing on the opposite side, he crouched down and focused on his target – a vine directly above Sonic's head that someone had turned into a swing by tying it into a loop – then pounced.

He managed to seize the loop firmly in both hands, and the little fact that he had to use both namesakes rather rapidly to a) achieve this and b) avoid flattening Sonic in no way diminished his triumph.

"Didja see me, Sonic? Did you? Huh?"

The answer came when he looked down and saw a rapidly diminishing blue shape plummeting down the gap where the bridge had been a few seconds ago.

The thought _Well, at least now we know how to get down_ hit Sonic half a second before Tails had swooped down to catch him neatly and then deposit him on his feet.

"Tails?" Sonic said very levelly.

"Yup?"

"Never, ever do that again."

Tails frowned. "What, catch you?"

"No; collapse a bridge while I'm still standing on it!"

"I didn't know it was gonna c'lapse." Tails hopped onto a platform and turned around. "C'mon Sonic, hurry up! We gotta get to ol' Robotnik an' whump him!"

"I thought you didn't like whumping Robotnik."

"What? Oh." Tails dismissed this with the short attention span of a four-year-old. "Yeah, but it's still cool. Wonder how he's gonna try an' kill you _this_ time!"

"I don't know and I don't wanna find out either," Sonic said flatly.

They hadn't been going for much longer when Tails said, "Well...I don't think you're gonna have much choice, Sonic."

At least, Sonic thought that was what he said. There was a loud rumbling sound which only kept increasing in volume.

"Why not?" he said, raising his voice.

"'Cause of that." Tails pointed and Sonic looked up in time to see Robotnik trundle into view, his machine now looking like he'd stuck parts from the Emerald Hill version onto the Hill Top one.

In fact, this was almost exactly the case; Robotnik had been busy completing his final weapon and hadn't had time to customise the Egg-O-Matic as he would have liked, and so had had to make do with hurriedly removing a couple of plates and attaching a couple of drills. The noise of the engine as it reverberated off the walls was deafening. Sonic could see Robotnik's mouth moving, but couldn't make out any of the words.

"What?" he yelled, or at least from Robotnik's point of view, mouthed. The doctor raised his voice.

"I _said_, let's see how you deal with _this_ one, Sonic!"

Sonic frowned, cupped his ear quizzically, then spread his hands to the side with a shrug.

"I SAID—oh, blast it all!" Robotnik reached down and throttled back until the engine was a barely audible hum, all the time aware that this wasn't doing much for his image as a deadly adversary and making a mental note to use lasers or electricity next time he was in an underground setting. "There. Can you hear me now?"

"I guess," Sonic said.

"Eggsellent." Robotnik grinned evilly. "As I was saying, let's see how you deal with _this_ one, Sonic. Meet my Eggscavator."

Sonic quirked an eye ridge at Tails. "Didn't we already smash that one?"

"Well, technically speaking it's the Eggscavator Mark Two," Robotnik conceded. He smirked. "The eggsecutive version."

Sonic groaned. "Oh boy. Doc, if you're gonna kill us, fine, but enough with the puns already!"

Robotnik's eyes narrowed, unsure. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew he didn't like it. Sonic shouldn't be so cocky and don't-carish; the hedgehog was acting as he had before what Robotnik loosely referred to as The Incident.

"How'd you get it to hover an' fly like that anyway, ol' Robotnik?" Tails wanted to know. "'Cause you don't have wings or propellers so how come it flies? How come?"

"Tails!" Sonic pulled the too-curious little fox away as Tails reached out to try and prod one of the drills with an inquisitive finger.

"So-_nic_! I wanna see how it works!"

"Tails, _no_!"

"You _always_ say no," Tails mumbled, not quite under his breath. "How come you're no fun anymore, Sonic?"

Without bothering to answer, Sonic raced forward and leapt, too fast for Robotnik to dodge, ramming into the machine and bouncing off to ram it another three times before having to drop out the way of the suddenly moving drills.

Angling them to point upwards, Robotnik pushed the throttle forward, rose through the air and burrowed into the ceiling, causing the noise level to triple and numerous rocks to tumble from around the Eggscavator Mark Two. Most of these bounced harmlessly away, but a few stalactites that had been dislodged hit the floor hard enough to wedge themselves into the ground.

Sonic stared at them. _Jeez, what kinda rocks they got in this place?_

The cave shuddered again and more debris fell from the ceiling. Sonic dodged almost automatically, eyes focused on a point above his head, following the trail of rocks that marked Robotnik's progress.

Robotnik, for his part, was considerably astonished when he drilled out of the ceiling and saw the rocks scattered on the ground. He hadn't had any plan besides drilling in and out and hoping to get lucky – Sonic really had caught him on the hop – and even he wasn't arrogant enough to believe this would work against an adversary like the hedgehog.

Well, nobody else need know he hadn't planned it this way. Robotnik grinned broadly. Maybe he could still beat the little pest.

Another double attack from Sonic and his pet sent Robotnik rather hastily back into the ceiling again. Time for Plan B, which was to come up damn quickly with a Plan C.

Moving to his left, he headed to where he remembered seeing a cluster of stalactites. As he'd hoped, the vibrations from his machine (plus a little enthusiastic drilling on his part) sent the deadly spikes plummeting towards Sonic. The only problem as far as he was concerned was that he had no way of telling what was going on down below, didn't know if he was going to come out again straight into Sonic or ten feet away from him.

In fact, Sonic was too busy desperately trying to dodge the rain of rocks and to keep Tails out the way that he probably would have ignored Robotnik if the doctor had shaken him by the hand. If he didn't finish this the next time Robotnik poked his head up (or down, depending on your point of view) he had a nasty feeling that it might be too late.

"_Sonic_!" Tails swerved away from one falling stalactite, dodged three more and a rounded rock before diving down to catch another stalactite that was inches above Sonic's head.

The hedgehog stared at it, then at Tails. "Thanks. You're a lifesaver."

"I sure am!" Elated, momentarily forgetting their current situation, Tails bounded into the air, looped the loop three consecutive times and then backed off, holding his prize and beaming.

An ominous rumble above Sonic's head announced Robotnik's return, coupled with more stalactites falling, too many and too fast for the hedgehog to escape. Realising this, Robotnik started to cut his engines with the intention of letting the vehicle drop.

"_Sonic, here_!" Tails hurled the stalactite javelin-style to the hedgehog. He missed, instead scoring a direct hit on Robotnik's vehicle. To the surprise of all three combatants, the stalactite stuck firmly into the metal, vibrating slightly with the force used.

For a few seconds, the three of them just stared at it, then Sonic leapt up, seized it, yanked it out and landed back underneath the machine. Thrusting up with all his strength, he rammed it hard into the underbelly.

He didn't know what he hit, but it produced a pretty spectacular result; the explosion knocked him and Tails clean into opposite walls and Robotnik through the ceiling. Getting unsteadily to his feet, the hedgehog prepared to fight some more but the doctor never reappeared and so he turned his attention to the still prostrate Tails.

"Are you okay, squirt?"

Tails nodded. "Uh huh." He bounced onto his feet and Sonic was struck – not for the first time – by the resilience of the little fox. "Is ol' Robotnik gone?"

Sonic looked up to where the doctor's machine had disappeared to, then nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think he's left this Zone." He glanced down at the stalactites which were still wedged upright in the ground and shook his head. "The next time someone tries to tell me stalactites are wondrous, beautiful things and too fragile to touch, I think I'll spindash 'em."

Tails sniffed at one of the stalactites. "C'n I keep one, Sonic?"

"No. Leave 'em there, kiddo. C'mon, we should probably be going. Those people in the prison egg still need to get out."

"Yeah!" Tails started towards the prison, forgetting all about the stalactite, then hesitated and glanced over his shoulder. "Uh. Mebbe you should do it."

Sonic quirked an eye ridge. "You can't tell me you're scared."

"I can't? How come?"

"You're scared?" Sonic folded his arms, tapping his foot with a gleam in his eyes. "After taking down Robotnik in Hill Top Zone, and Chemical Plant, you're scared of freeing some people?"

Tails looked away, ears drooping. "You don't gotta rub it in, Sonic. 'Sides, I'm _not_ scared. I jus'…" He shifted uncomfortably.

"Just what?"

Tails fixed Sonic with a big-eyed, appealing look. "Sonic, what if they're like the others in Em'rald Hill Zone? What if they don't like me?"

"Are you kidding?" Sonic reached out and ruffled the little fox's fur. "What's not to like?"

"This." Tails brought one of his namesakes around and scowled at it, looking very much as though he'd like to chew it off.

Sonic sighed. "Tails, I thought you were past all that."

"Huh?" Tails frowned, small forehead wrinkling as he tried to puzzle this one out. "Why'd you think that, Sonic?"

_Damn good question_, Sonic thought grimly. Aloud he said, "Well…how many people have laughed at you since we left Emerald Hill?"

"Six billion trillion kajillion an' four!"

The answer threw Sonic, who blinked. "What?"

"Six billion trillion kajillion an' four," Tails repeated, arms folded with a glare on his face that dared the hedgehog to comment. "An' anyway, I did the last one so it's your turn now!"

Sonic gave up. "Okay. Wait here." Turning, he broke into a run, jumping and landing squarely on top of the prison egg, shattering it and freeing the people inside.

Tails flew straight to Sonic's side and caught hold of his hand. He was a lot more confident around strangers than he had been back when Sonic had first met him, but he was still a little nervous.

Tails' nerves were only compounded by a small spider pointing one leg at him and saying suddenly, "Hey, that kid's got two tails!"

"Yeah!" That was from a mole not much older than Tails himself. "What a freak!"

Sonic closed his eyes, swearing viciously to himself and only opened them when he felt Tails pull his hand away and take off, running hard back into the Zone.

"Damn!" Sonic shot a glare at the mole, temporarily forgetting the perpetrator wasn't much older than Tails himself. "Thanks a bunch, kid!"

"But he _is_ a—" the mole started to protest before his father cuffed him across the back of the head.

"That's enough outta you! We're going home!"

"But dad, I didn't get Sonic's auto—"

"_Now_!" Embarrassed, the mole looked at Sonic. "Look, he's—"

"Just get him out of my sight," Sonic cut across, anger on Tails' behalf and the thought of how much ground he'd just lost with the little fox making him shorter than usual. "I'm going to go find my friend." He turned, paused, then turned back. "And if he was so upset he flew straight into a trap, I swear that what Robotnik started here, I'll finish."

He sped away, retracing his steps as fast as he could without actually missing anything, then started exploring more of the place.

In the end, finding Tails was almost ridiculously simple; the little fox had burrowed under a cluster of leafmoss, but there hadn't been quite enough room for his namesakes.

"Tails?" Sonic said softly.

No answer.

"I know you're in there, squirt; I can see your tails."

The tails twitched, writhed about as the little fox tried to pull them in and then eventually gave up.

"There's nobody else here, Tails. It's just you and me." Reaching out, Sonic lifted the leafmoss up enough to see the fox's small body. "Kiddo, c'mon. Let's go, huh?"

"_No_!" Tails stuffed his face into the crook of his elbow. "Go 'way, Sonic! I'm not coming out ever again, not _never_!"

Sonic spread his hands out to the side. "Hey, don't get mad at me, squirt; I'm not the one who upset you."

Tails sniffed and peeped out with one eye. "You said they were gonna be nice to me, Sonic."

A slight smile appeared on the hedgehog's face. "And _you_ said I never made any mistakes, so it looks like we were both wrong, huh? Besides, did you hear the parents of those kids laying into them?" He whistled softly. "Man, I'm glad Mighty's family never yelled at me like that."

There was a stubborn silence and Sonic held out his hand. "C'mon squirt. Let's go onto the next Zone, huh?"

Tails shook his head. "Uh _uh_. What if those kids are still there an' what if they start throwing things an' calling me a freak an' laughing at me like all the kids back in Em'rald Hill Zone?"

"You can't stay in here forever, Tails."

"Can so!"

Sonic shrugged. "Well, if you don't wanna help me whump Robotnik—"

"Nuh uh! Not if everyone's gonna be real mean to me!"

In that, Sonic had to admit Tails had a point. Doing what they'd done so far was hair-raising enough, but doing it and then getting comments like that from the very people you'd saved…that was soul-destroying.

"I won't let them be mean to you, kiddo. C'mon. I'm not leaving you behind; we're a team, remember?"

"We are?" Tails looked up at Sonic a little warily, although he was already crawling backwards out of his hole. "What kinda team?"

"The kinda team that whumps Robotnik."

Tails hesitated. "You promise you won't let them call me a freak?"

"I promise. Come on, let's go."

The little fox reached out and seized Sonic's arm, clinging tightly and looking so hurt and betrayed that the hedgehog felt his heart ache in sympathy.

"Sonic, _am_ I a freak?" Tails said hoarsely. "Honest?"

"No." Sonic spoke the word firmly, categorically, his tone leaving no room for either doubt or correction. "Some people just don't understand. That kid was very young, Tails; he didn't mean it." When Tails still looked dejected, Sonic pressed on. "Hey, c'mon. We beat Robotnik, right?"

"Yeah." Even that failed to rouse Tails.

"And I think—" Sonic pretended to consider— "I think that probably deserves a ride, don't you?"

The little fox's ears lifted ever so slightly. Sonic wasn't averse to carrying Tails if the fox was tired, but he rarely offered rides for pleasure. "Really?"

"Sure. Hang on." Sonic swung Tails into his arms and took off, picking up the pace until the little fox squealed with delight.

Most of the residents were still hanging around outside the Prison Egg when they arrived, and Sonic felt Tails tense up in his arms. Shifting his hold – that had been the other reason behind him offering the fox a ride; so that Tails couldn't disappear again – Sonic stepped forward.

A spider, who seemed to have been elected as spokesperson for the group, scuttled forward on the ceiling and let himself down on a thread of silk.

"I dunno how we can thank you, Sonic."

"You could turn the damn lights on once in a while," Tails piped up.

Sonic shot him a look. "Tails!"

The fox returned Sonic's look with a hurt one of his own. "What? You did say that, Sonic, 'member?"

"I didn't…well, I did, but I didn't really _mean_ it," Sonic lied. Tails frowned.

"How come you said it then?"

Sonic shook his head. "It doesn't matter, squirt. Let's just keep moving, okay?" He glanced up. "Someone tell me what the next Zone is?"

"What're you asking them for, Sonic?" Tails said in a small voice. "Don't you want me to be your guide anymore?"

Sonic swore under his breath and with considerable fervour and imagination for a good few seconds before pasting a smile on his face and looking down at the anxious little fox. "Of course I still want you for a guide, kiddo."

"Then let's go!" Wriggling out of the hedgehog's hold, Tails seized Sonic's hand and started to tug him along, waving with his free hand at everyone else. "Bye! We're gonna go save the world! C'mon Sonic, we gotta get to Oil Ocean Zone before ol' Robotnik!"

Sonic sighed as he allowed himself to be pulled along. Well, at least the little fox seemed happy again, and he supposed the law of averages said that Tails had to be right about Oil Ocean _one_ day...

**So that's Mystic Cave done :P Three guesses as to what the next Zone's gonna be ;) Hope you enjoyed this and if you read, please review!**


	13. Oil Ocean Zone

**Professor Vengeance: I hath (hast/haft?) returned indeed :P It was an incredibly hectic time, even more so than usual, which was why it took so long ;) And thanks, glad you liked it!**

**D.C.111: (grins) I used to hate Mystic Cave Zone...I played it over and over in 2P mode as a kid trying to get past it (lost life after life after life) then I came back to it as an adult and I was like, "Huh. What was all the fuss about?" As to whether Sonic will tell Tails about 'The Incident' with Robotnik...that does happen, but not until the events in _Secrets of the Emeralds_ (which is set quite a way in the future...sometime after _Sonic 3 & Knuckles_) so if you really want to read that conversation, check it out ;) I try to keep all my fics tied in together**

**Maverick87: Thanks :D Yeah, I kinda liked the doorbell part as well...**

**Poridet: Thanks. And yeah, looks like it with Mighty...**

**Awdures: Pretty, yes. Passable...ooh boy :P I love it now though...Tails; yeah, I'm sure he'll get a little self-confidence by the end ;)**

**Private somebody: Thanks, glad you liked it :P I have to say I loved Tails in Sonic 2; many's the time he leapt boldly past me and smashed Robotnik in Chemical Plant Zone before a) Sonic could get a hit in and b) Robotnik could get a hit in. Seriously; it's true :P**

**Mica4: (blushes) Thanks, glad you enjoyed it so much :)**

**Sonic-Addict: Heh, thanks :D As for climbing into Sonic's lap...well, I think Tails is actually incredibly affectionate by nature (only 'big kids' don't show it, at least not in his book). Oil Ocean...yep, major stress factor :P**

**DragonUk: Hmm...is it me your dog loves or my dog? I wonder ;) And thanks :D**

**Hawks Soul: (grins) Ooh, bribery :P (hurriedly hides chocolate from everyone) (_Tails: (sniffles an' hugs Hawks Soul back)_)**

**Asher Tye: Thanks :D And Sonic will find out about the seventh Emerald very soon ;)**

**TrueVulcanRaven: Thanks :) Being mean to Tails...yeah, kids can be so cruel :(**

**Gameorama91: Yep, finally updated :P And yeah, you're right; it's Oil Ocean (just like Tails has been saying all through the story ;))**

**Owl: Thanks. Sonic making empty threats...he is old and mature beyond his years (well, in some ways :P) but he's still something of a kid as well ;) Besides, which sounds more impressive; _I'm going to finish what Robotnik started_ or _I'm going to be very upset_? ;)**

**Lewisty: Thanks**

**Shadow-spawn180: (laughs) Thanks and yeah, there was a cartoon that featured Sonic and two others in a band; both the cartoon and the band was called _Sonic Underground_ which is where I got the name from ;)**

**Az The Dragon: Fear not, you shall see the reaction when Sonic discovers the seventh Emerald very soon :P**

**TC Chan: (grins) Thanks :D Tails' stalactite thing...yeah :P I dunno what those stalactites were made of, but I'm guessing something pretty hard ;)**

**Parslie: Yep, Oil Ocean ;)**

**Kitsune-firedragon: Thanks, I'll try**

**Myuu-san: (blushes) Thanks and I hope so :P Super Sonic…do you think I would dare upload the adaptation of Sonic 2 and NOT have Super Sonic? ;) He will make an appearance at some point, I promise**

**Truten: Thanks. Yeah, fingers crossed we see Mighty in some games soon...until then he'll just have to stay in fanfic :(**

Sonic was worried about Tails. The little fox was...no, not _sulking_, that wasn't quite the word for it, he was..._moping_, that was it. Depressed. Sonic had tried to cheer him up, tried everything he could think of to take him out of his funk, but his efforts seemed to have exactly the opposite effect and in the end he'd given up.

A sign by the road gave him an idea and he nudged Tails.

"Guess you were right, huh?" he said. "Oil Ocean is the next Zone."

"Huh?" Tails looked up at the signpost pointing to the refinery city ahead of them which was just visible as a blur on the horizon, then back down at his feet. "Oh. Yeah."

Sonic took a deep breath. "Tails?"

"Hm?"

"Tails, what's the matter? Is it..." Sonic swallowed – this was harder than he'd imagined – then plunged on. "Is it that you don't want to tag along with me anymore? Because if it is, kiddo, go ahead and tell me. I won't get mad."

"Nothing's the matter, Sonic."

Sonic shook his head. "I'm not buying it, kiddo. You're miserable about something."

"Am not." The denial was more automatic than heartfelt; Tails' ears were permanently drooping and he spent most of the time studying his feet.

"Are your sneakers hurting?" Sonic asked suddenly. Maybe that was it; Tails didn't want to say anything in case he ended up losing them.

A shake of the head. Tails' namesakes were dragging in the dust and although last night had been bath night, he hadn't complained or tried to wriggle out of it like he had before (often literally) but had just stood there forlornly, letting Sonic scrub him.

The hedgehog frowned slightly. "Then what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Tails mumbled into his fur. "C'mon Sonic. We better get going 'cause ol' Robotnik's prob'ly waiting for us."

He trudged on morosely, leaving a puzzled Sonic behind. Eventually the hedgehog caught up, still staring down at Tails in a worried fashion.

"Well...okay. If you say there's nothing wrong, then there's nothing wrong." Deep down Sonic knew this was far from true; the little fox had been acting strangely ever since Tuesday morning.

The hedgehog frowned perplexedly, trying to remember anything he might have said or done that could have upset him. Tails wasn't usually shy or embarrassed about expressing his unhappiness with something; Sonic still got chills when he remembered what he now thought of as The Balloon And Lollipop Incident, and not least because it had cost him his last Mobium.

That, more than anything, was worrying him. He'd managed to gloss over it so far with Tails; the little fox seemed to have bought into Sonic's too-cheerful exclamations along the lines of, "Let's search for food in the forest, Tails, won't that be fun?" but pretty soon they'd be in Oil Ocean, and if the dark buildings were anything to go by, that was a city and the only food they'd find there would be what they could scrounge out of dustbins. Sonic didn't dare run, needing to conserve every shred of energy he still had. He could already see his own ribs without sucking his chest in, and it seemed like he was always ravenously hungry these days, not least because Tails got most of the meagre food they managed to scavenge. Late autumn/early winter wasn't a good time to be living off the land, at least, not off this land.

He hoped Metropolis was nearby. Quite apart from the principle of the thing, if he didn't get some royalties from that publishing house, he didn't know what he'd do for money.

An old memory stirred, one he'd almost forgotten. He'd been five years old and staying with Mighty, and the armadillo's mother had sent him and Sonic out with baskets every day to pick fruits, nuts, berries and just about anything edible in the morning and sent them fishing in the afternoon. At the time, Sonic had thought it was fun – especially as the one who brought back the most food got to pick the bedtime story that night – and then he'd grown a little older and started to wonder if it was a good excuse for Mighty's mother to get the two of them out the house. Now he was older still, he wondered if that had been the only way the family could get enough to eat. The family hadn't been poverty stricken by any means, but they weren't exactly raking it in either.

Sonic thought back to the times when he'd refused, wanting to go out and play instead, and of how he'd been too stubborn to give in and how he'd still bragged about having a full plate in the evenings. And had there been a little less food on the two adults' plates? Looking back on it, Sonic rather thought there might have been.

He sighed. He was beginning to understand just what Mighty's parents had gone through to look after him.

Next to him, Tails got a stone in his sneaker and sat down silently to get it out. He'd been lagging behind a little for two days now, so perhaps Sonic could be excused for not noticing his absence until several hundred yards down the road when he turned to say something to Tails and noticed that the little fox wasn't with him but was slumped by the side of the road, playing with one of his namesakes.

Sonic jogged over and crouched down in front of him. "What're you doing way back here, squirt?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing, huh? You wanna tell me why you're doing nothing here as opposed to doing it while you're walking with me?" Sonic reached out and started to ruffle Tails' fur, but the little fox ducked out from under his hand, then abruptly jumped to his feet and padded over to sit down on a fallen log. Determined not to let the matter drop this time, Sonic followed him.

"Kiddo, we're not going any further until you tell me what's wrong."

Tails scowled up at him, then the scowl dropped off and he looked away again.

"Nothing's wrong."

"I'm not buying that, squirt."

The little fox glanced up out the corner of his eye. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm real hungry. Berries are cool an' I never ate ones like these before, not never, but they don't fill my tummy. C'n we buy some food? Please?"

Sonic closed his eyes. Just like he'd been at that age, only he hadn't been so polite about it. Little Sonic had been a somewhat demanding child whose arguments were usually won by volume rather than reason, especially his constant demands for extra food from Mighty's mother.

_If I'd known it made her feel this bad..._

Sonic opened his eyes again. "Tails...I should have said this a couple days ago..."

For no reason he could fathom, the little fox's face lit up. "Really? 'Sokay, Sonic, you c'n say it now!"

"Alright." Sonic took a deep breath. "There's no more money, squirt. That's why we've been living off berries and fruit and fish; I've no way of getting more food."

Judging from the way Tails' face crumpled, this wasn't what he'd been expecting Sonic to say.

"Do you understand?" Sonic pressed.

"Sure." If Tails had looked miserable before, now he looked chronically depressed. "There's no more food for me."

"Tails, haven't you been listening? There's no money, and no money means no more food for either of us!"

"'Sokay, Sonic. If you don't wanna feed me 'cause you wanna eat it yourself, that's cool but you c'n say."

Lack of food and concern boiled over into Sonic's temper, causing it to flare up. "Hey kid, _you_ got the last takeout I bought, _and_ that damn lollipop and balloon you wanted so badly so don't play the martyr with me, okay?"

"Yeah, an' _you_ ate that takeout too on'y you wouldn't do it with me!" Tails shouted. "Prob'ly 'cause you had a double layered triple frosted chocolate fudge cake an' didn't wanna share!"

"_Share_?" Sonic erupted. "You wanna know what I had while you were stuffing yourself on fish and chips? _Nothing_, that's what! I didn't eat for two days after that because you were so hungry I didn't feel comfortable doing it which is why I spent every last Mobium on _you_! You're a fine one to talk about sharing, kid; it wouldn't have killed you to split that food I bought, would it?"

"I didn't know you were hungry! You never said, Sonic, not _never_! If you'da said something I'da let you have some but you kep' saying you'd eaten an' you didn't want anything!"

"And didn't it occur to you to _wonder_?" Sonic demanded. "To think that maybe, just _maybe_, I was saying it to keep you happy?"

"NO!" Tails shrieked.

"Then it damn well _should _have!" Sonic shouted back.

Tails started to cry. "Well, I'm _sorry_, Sonic! I'm sorry I'm not perfect like you an' I'm sorry I'm hungry an' I'm sorry you're mad at me 'gain jus' 'cause I wanna have something to eat an' it was my birthday on Monday, Sonic, my _birthday_ an' you didn't gimme a card or a present or even say happy birthday or _anything_!"

There was a shocked silence.

"Your...oh man." Sonic stared, then sat down next to him and slid an arm around Tails' shoulders, hugging the little fox to him. "Is that why you've been so sad all this time?"

Tails nodded vigorously, lifting brimming eyes to meet Sonic's.

"You didn't have to buy me a card an' a present an' a cake, though that woulda been real cool, Sonic, but how come didn't you say happy birthday to me?"

Sonic shook his head. "Tails, how was I supposed to know? You never mentioned it."

"You _should_!" Small fists pounded Sonic's chest and he let them. "You shoulda known, Sonic, 'cause you're my big brother an' big brothers're s'posed to know when little brothers' birthdays are!" He broke off and looked away, hands clapped over his mouth and ears flat. He hadn't wanted to blurt that out, was too shy to want Sonic to know that he thought of the hedgehog as a big brother, but it had just slipped out. "I 'member _yours_, Sonic."

"Well...yeah...but..." Sonic's voice trailed off. He knew Tails liked and looked up to him, but he hadn't realised the little fox thought of him as a _brother_.

"But what?" Tails persisted.

"Well..." Sonic hesitated, then took the plunge. "Sometimes...sometimes little brothers need to remind big brothers of what's important, just in case those big brothers are occupied with other things." He winked. "Isn't that right, little bro?"

The look on Tails' face made Sonic feel ten feet tall, then Tails gave an inarticulate squeal of delight and expressed his feelings in the only way he knew how; he pounced on Sonic and knocked him off the log, wriggling all over the hedgehog in pure happiness, namesakes wagging frantically.

"Tails—oof!" Sonic winced as a small foot was planted firmly in his stomach. "Tails, cool it!"

"I'm already cool, Sonic! You an' me, we're buddies an' brothers an' cooler than _anyone_!" Tails scrambled off Sonic, this time planting the same foot squarely in the hedgehog's ribs, turned a full somersault and bounced onto his feet. "Nyah nyah, can't catch me!"

"Oh really?" Grinning in spite of himself, Sonic snapped onto his feet. "Well, we'll just have to see about _that_, won't we?"

He started towards Tails, who squealed again and raced off. Sonic followed him a little at a time, picking up the pace until he was running in front of Tails, backwards.

This was something of a mistake on his part, as Tails immediately tried to copy him, tripped over a branch, turned a somersault and fell on his head with a loud yelp.

"Hey kiddo, you okay?"

A brave nod. Tails was rubbing his head frantically in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain there.

"C'mon, lemme see." Sonic took over the rubbing, continuing until Tails was no longer whimpering.

"Sonic?" Tails looked up, ears flat. "I'm real sorry I didn't share my food. I didn't know you were hungry too, honest."

Sonic sighed. "No, kiddo, I'm sorry. I shouldn't've lost it like that. Guess I just forgot what it's like to be a little kid and hungry, huh?" He shook his head. "You know, sometimes when you do all that amazing stuff with building and repairing things, I kinda forget you're only four."

"Five!" Tails corrected him indignantly.

"Five. Yeah. Sorry."

"An' how come you forget jus' 'cause I build stuff? Ev'ryone builds stuff."

Sonic shook his head. "Only some people, squirt, and only after years and years of training. I've never met anyone who could just _do_ it the way you can. You are way cool, you know that?"

Tails scrunched his little snout up in a puzzled frown. "Building stuff makes me cool, Sonic?"

"You bet it does." Sonic reached down and helped Tails to his feet. "C'mon."

As they approached the now familiar and somewhat dreaded shape of a Star Post up ahead, Tails looked up at Sonic. "We got all the Em'ralds, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"So what's gonna happen if I hit it again?"

Without waiting for an answer, Tails took off and punched the Star Post hard. There was the equally familiar (and equally dreaded) sound of a warp opening, and another ring of stars appeared.

"Ooh! Look, Sonic, it's another Special Zone!"

"Oh good," Sonic said, coating each word in as much sarcasm as he could before dropping it into the silence.

"C'mon, let's see where it goes!" Tails bounced into the air and disappeared through the ring of stars before the hedgehog could stop him.

Swearing, calling Tails every name he could think of in the knowledge that the little fox couldn't hear him, Sonic followed.

"I said I never wanted to come back here again!" he yelled over the rushing wind at Tails, who was busy scampering from side to side collecting rings.

"No you didn't!"

No, Sonic thought grimly, now that he thought about it, he hadn't. He'd _thought_ it, sure, but he'd never said it because he hadn't seen any real need to.

"An' I wanna see what's at the enda this one!" Tails shouted back as he leapt through a ring of bombs and snatched the gold rings on the other side. More through lack of choice than desire, Sonic followed suit.

"Just promise me one thing!" he shouted. "Never, _ever_ touch another Star Post again!"

Tails didn't answer, mostly because he'd raced ahead to gather another armful of rings.

There was something different about this one. Sonic could feel it instinctively. Maybe it was the colour – all the others had been vivid, almost neon as opposed to this grey – or a shift in the atmosphere...or the fact that the sky was currently cycling through colours like a psychotic kaleidoscope.

Then he caught sight of the Emerald at the other end and stopped running to stare at it, then at Tails leaping forward in triumph to seize it, vanishing out of the Special Zone.

Sonic felt a chill run down his spine. Tails had just left, taking with him the only means of escape.

_You wondered what happened when the blackness caught up with you_? he thought grimly to himself over the roar of the wind. _Looks like you're about to find out._

In fact, it was dismally anticlimatic; he fell through blackness for about four seconds before being expelled back into what he thought of as the _real world_ as rudely as he had been in Mystic Cave Zone.

"Sonic, look! We got another Em'rald! How come, Sonic? You said there were on'y six so how come we got seven, huh? How come?" Tails was bouncing up and down like a caffeinated jumping bean, clinging the grey Chaos Emerald to him tightly.

"It's the seventh Emerald," Sonic said, staring at it.

"Yeah, I jus' said that but _you_ said there were on'y six!"

"There were! At least...I thought..." Sonic shook his head, trying to organise his thoughts. "When Robotnik's lab exploded, the Chaos Emeralds were scattered all over Green Island. I found six of them but never managed to track down the seventh. I thought it had wound up at the bottom of some ocean."

"Ohhh." Tails squinted at it. "It's kinda pretty, huh Sonic?"

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"Kinda like someone put a cloud in a glass Em'rald shaped thingy!" Tails said, tilting the grey gem backwards and forwards.

"That's kinda poetic for you, squirt," Sonic said with a grin. "But yeah, it is like that." Taking the Emerald from the fox, he tucked it safely inside his quills. "C'mon kiddo. Let's go see what Oil Ocean has to offer."

"Yeah!" Tails seized Sonic's hand and raced along, trying to tug the hedgehog behind him. "Hey Sonic? What if there's _eight_ Emeralds?"

"There aren't."

"That's what you said 'bout the seventh, 'member?"

"No. Trust me. There were only ever seven Emeralds." Something in Sonic's voice told the little fox not to push it, and Tails didn't say another word until they arrived in Oil Ocean.

"What's that say?" he demanded, pointing at the six foot black-on-yellow sign.

"NO NAKED FLAME," the hedgehog read aloud.

"What's naked?"

"Not having any clothes on," Sonic answered without thinking.

Tails frowned. "I didn't know flames wore clothes, Sonic."

"It's...well, it's kinda their way of saying don't light any matches."

"How come not?"

Sonic pointed down to the water, although in this case the term wasn't really appropriate any longer.

"One spark, kiddo, and the whole Zone would go up in flames."

"_Cool_," Tails breathed, eyes huge.

"No it's not!" Sonic stepped forward. He'd heard that the oil was so thick here that you could actually run on it for short periods of time, but he didn't much want to experiment.

Oil Ocean used to be known as Westside Ocean Zone back in the days when it was a genuine ocean, and as clean and pollution free as the rest of Mobius. Some decades ago, when Mobius was producing and using fossil fuels and crude oil, it was decided that extreme pollution in one place was preferable to moderate pollution everywhere else, and since Westside Ocean was huge enough to take the amounts produced and surrounded on all sides by land, it had been voted in as the best place. The feral fish had been moved to the ocean surrounding Westside Island along with the non-ferals. Although the dolphins had gone happily enough, the sharks and orcas had kicked up something of a fuss. A couple had even been crazy enough to refuse to leave and had lasted two weeks before the pollution forced them to admit defeat. Westside Ocean was renamed Oil Ocean, and was seen as a place that nobody ever went if they could possibly avoid it.

Unfortunately, Sonic and Tails fell into that small minority of _having-to-visit_, which was why they were now standing staring at a bridge done in a colour scheme of beige and hot pink that, amazingly, didn't look out of place in the steel surroundings.

"That bridge doesn't look very stable," Sonic said edgily.

Tails giggled. "It's not a stable, Sonic, it's a bridge, see?"

"I meant it doesn't look _safe_."

"Oh, it's safe. Look." Before Sonic could stop him, the little fox had scampered forward onto the bridge in question and was bouncing up and down vigorously in an effort to show just how safe it was. It seemed perfectly sound for the first five seconds and then, just as Sonic stepped onto it, it fell away from under his feet.

Reflexes fired, sending the hedgehog not only over that bridge but the next one as well, and they only shut down then because they'd almost propelled his body into something that looked like a cross between a kiln and a gas oven.

"What the hell is _that_?" Sonic wondered aloud.

He got his answer a few seconds later in the form of a loud _bang_ as the top of the whatever-it-was (some kind of pressure valve, perhaps?) got blasted several metres into the air before clanging down onto the ground again with enough force to crush anything caught underneath.

Sonic forgot about the valve a moment later, mostly because a seahorse had just emerged from the oil and launched a projectile at him. Not fire – even Robotnik probably wasn't that insane – but whatever it was probably wouldn't do Sonic much good if he came into contact with it. Dodging almost automatically, the hedgehog leapt for the bot, missed, attempted to stop, skidded and fell onto an oil chute which swept him down through the Zone before depositing him on a platform near one of the pressure valves.

Tails, who had been trying valiantly to keep up with his newly adopted big brother ever since the first bridge had gone, finally swooped down next to him, giggling so hard he was having difficulty staying airborne.

"Boy, Sonic, you sure look funny!"

Sonic supposed he did at that. He'd been coated in oil pretty much all over, and this had given his fur a kind of piebald effect. It also gave a slick, unpleasant sense of detachment to his sense of touch, like his fingers had been coated in butter.

"You wanna go up there?" Tails asked him, pointing to the platform Sonic had just left.

"I got a better idea," Sonic lied while trying frantically to think of one. Given the current slickness of his hands, chances were good that Tails wouldn't be able to hold onto him for long.

A _bang_ jerked his attention round to a nearby valve, followed by the _clang_ as the top dropped onto it again.

A slight grin appeared on the hedgehog's face.

_Well, why not_?

Carefully, doing his best not to slip and trying not to look down (and failing on both counts) Sonic hopped onto the top and hoped like hell this would work.

It did, although not quite as he'd expected; the valve exploded beneath him and fired him with surprising accuracy into what looked like a checkered cannon, which rotated a full ninety degrees before firing him into another cannon that in turn blasted him into a third which shot him out onto a platform.

Getting up, Sonic staggered forward, weaving unsteadily from side to side, and only barely missed the spiked bar that was sliding back and forth on the platform. His footing slipped, sending him to his hands and knees just in time to avoid another projectile from a second seahorse.

Sonic ignored it. He'd already learned that the bots here were only really dangerous if they caught you napping; the seahorse could throw a nasty bullet, but the hot-pink octopus he'd also noticed on his way down...no, no threat. Better to keep his mind on more important things.

Like staying alive, for example.

He broke into a run, leapt into the air and was carried along on a powerful breeze before he had a chance to work out what was happening. Landing, frowning slightly, he turned back to see several fans in a line between him and the water, blades whirring gently.

_Hmm. Maybe the people here have some good ideas after all_.

A few seconds later, he added the rider, _Then again, maybe not_, as another fan mounted on the platform started up, hard enough to send him sliding on the oil onto another oil chute. This one dumped him onto another one, which carried him onto a third, reminding Sonic strongly of the dropping platforms back in Hill Top Zone. Those had been over lava rather than oil, and Sonic still wasn't sure which he preferred.

He didn't have time to work it out, however, as his own momentum carried him on, over several more fans before he finally managed to stop by the simple procedure of throwing himself onto his belly and gripping the platforms with both hands. It was a slow, somewhat nerve-racking process, and the sight of a metal grey submarine lurking in the oil ahead didn't do anything to improve it.

"You're kinda early, aren't you?" he said through clenched teeth, still hanging onto the platform like grim death as Tails hovered nearby.

"Early?" Robotnik folded the magazine he'd been reading and stashed it in the glove compartment, where it had plenty of back issues to make friends with. "Hardly. You took your own sweet time getting here."

Sonic managed to stand up and fold his arms. "You know, it would save a lot of time and effort for both of us if you attacked me at the beginning of the Zone instead of the end."

"Perhaps, but..._Sonic_?" Robotnik broke off as he saw the hedgehog properly for the first time, gawked at him for a few minutes, then abruptly started to laugh. He had a genuine reason for his reaction this time; after sliding down an oil chute, being dunked into a slick and spin-dried over half a dozen fans, Sonic was looking distinctly the worse for wear and not at all like the blue hedgehog Robotnik had been expecting.

"Yeah. Look, I'm bruised, I'm tired, I'm even oilier than you are right now and I just want this day to be over, so can we cut the pre-butt-kicking banter and skip right to the part where I trash your machine?" Sonic considered. "If you got a self-destruct switch you can push to make things that little bit quicker, now's the time, doc."

Robotnik chuckled. "Oh, I'm sorry, Sonic. I must have forgotten to equip the Eggstreme Submarine Mark Two with such a device."

"You're not very good at names, are you?" Sonic said. "What's next, doc? The Eggscavator Mark Three?"

Robotnik crunched gears angrily, causing the Eggstreme Submarine Mark Two's engine to grind in protest. "Alright then, Sonic, _you_ come up with seven egg-related names for seven different ways of squashing pesky hedgehogs!" He slid underwater (or underoil, Sonic supposed wryly) and the hedgehog tensed, ready.

Something sharp and metallic erupted from the blackness and Sonic leapt into the air as a deadly, segmented spear flew over the platform in a graceful arc before sliding beneath the ocean, which was so thick with oil it didn't even make a splash.

"Is that all you got?" Sonic said as Robotnik surfaced again.

"Not at all, Sonic. Allow me to give you a short demonstration." Robotnik pushed a button. "The Eggstreme Submarine Mark Two comes with several accessories for all your hedgehog-squashing and evil genius needs," he continued very much in the manner of a used car salesman. "As demonstrated earlier, it comes with a homing claw that goes into a circular orbit and reslots itself neatly into its own individual compartment. It is also built to withstand oil and lava and has a fully equipped radar for navigating through areas of poor visibility."

"Sweet!" Sonic said, with a credible imitation of enthusiasm. "Does it come in blue?"

"No, but there is one interesting feature I haven't displayed yet." Robotnik flicked a series of switches. "I like to call it the Robotnik Flamethrower Deluxe."

"A_ flamethrower_?" Sonic all but shrieked at him. "_Here, in Oil Ocean Zone? Are you CRAZY_?"

"A laser, Sonic, and a very special kind at that. It only burns liquid oil, and only that which is in contact with metal. It was about all I managed to salvage from when you destroyed my Sky Base."

"That was _real_ cool!" Tails said happily. "You got into this robot that looked jus' like you, on'y uglier, an' you tried to whump Sonic on'y Sonic whumped you first!"

Sonic clenched his teeth. "Tails, remember the little talk we had about reality and fiction?" He glanced back at Robotnik's flamethrower. "Admit it, doc; you're gonna incinerate the whole place."

Robotnik chuckled. "My dear Sonic—"

"Don't call me that!"

"—even I'm not that psychotic," the doctor continued, ignoring Sonic's interruption. "How on earth am I supposed to conquer the planet when it's nothing but dust and ashes? Do have a little common sense."

Tails frowned. "How on what?"

Robotnik's hand hesitated over the controls. "What?"

"You said how on _urth_ were you supposed to conquer the planet. What's a nurth?"

"Tails, can we discuss this _later_?" Sonic said through clenched teeth.

"But Sonic, I wanna _know_!"

The doctor smiled broadly. "I'm sure your hedgehog friend can explain it to you." Shifting the smile onto Sonic, he added, "Isn't that right, Sonic?"

"No," Sonic said, with perfect truth; he'd never heard Robotnik use that expression before, at least, not to remember.

"So what _is_ a nurth?" Tails persisted. "Some kinda great big evil secret weapon thingy that's got loadsa attacking things that wanna destroy everything in the whole wide _world_?"

Robotnik's smile became even broader. "Oddly enough, cub, that's not so far from the truth as you might think." He shook his head. "And for someone who wanted to cut through the immature banter, Sonic, you seem to be doing more than your fair share of it. I thought you wanted this fight over quickly."

Sonic's only answer came in the form of a deadly leap, body curled over to crash into the vehicle's shell with devastating force, slicing through the metal and putting it out of commission.

At least, that was the plan. The _reality_ was that his oiled body hit Robotnik's equally oiled submarine, skidded forward to straddle the fin at the end and send Sonic into his own, very private world of pain, then slithered off into the oil with a _gloomp_.

Robotnik sucked in his breath with a sharp hiss, eyes gleaming with demonic amusement and perhaps a tiny hint of involuntary male sympathy.

"Ooh. Felt that, Sonic."

"Sonic!" Tails dived into the oil, floundered around until he found a hand and yanked hard, swimming with him to the platform where Sonic managed to crawl on top to safety.

Robotnik's machine submerged again and stayed under for a couple of minutes before something sleek, metallic and very, very sharp erupted, like a cross between a scorpion tail and a spear. Sonic leapt as it flew over the platform in a graceful arc before sliding beneath the ocean, which was so thick with oil it didn't even make a splash.

"Sonic, are you okay?" Tails glared over his shoulder. "Don't you _dare_ try an' whump us, ol' Robotnik, not 'til Sonic's okay again!"

As it happened, there was no danger of Robotnik either answering Tails or whumping Sonic, since the doctor was currently laughing so hard he could hardly sit upright.

"Sonic. Sonic, you gotta talk to me. Are you okay?"

"Yeah...fine..." Sonic croaked; apart from the soft ball of hot lead currently burning in his nether regions, he'd involuntarily swallowed a good few mouthfuls of the oil and was fighting a furious battle not to throw up. His chest hitched and he dry heaved once or twice, then collapsed onto his side, curled up around the pain.

"Robotnik!" Tails turned, struck the best heroic pose he could come up with and glowered at the submarine. "It's jus' you an' me now!"

"And two minutes ago it was just me and Sonic," Robotnik said pleasantly. "Care to guess what the next step is?"

"Yeah! You're gonna get whumped real good!" Tails hurled himself at Robotnik, missed in his enthusiasm by about five feet and only narrowly avoided colliding with one of the struts.

"Mmm...no." Robotnik sank under the oil and pressed a button, aiming and firing the laser that was mounted on an almost identical device to the homing claw. The blue-hot beam ignited the oil on the strut Tails was hanging onto, causing the little fox to yelp and scrabble to the top of the platform.

"But I'm a fair man," Robotnik added as he resurfaced, "so I'll give you another guess."

"I'm gonna kick your wife an' crack your butt!" Tails yelled defiantly, then hesitated. Something about that wasn't quite right.

It certainly confused Robotnik, who frowned in a somewhat perplexed manner. He wasn't averse to the idea of killing Tails – in fact, given how much it would probably upset Sonic, he was almost enthusiastic about it – but he'd never had to fight anyone quite like this strange little two-tailed fox.

"Now you listen to me, you little freak—" he began.

Tails grabbed a piece of metal rubble and tried to throw it at the doctor, only to find it was too heavy and so he settled for flying up above and dropping it on top instead.

"Mebbe I am a freak but I'm a freak whose bestest friend is Sonic the hedgehog! Sonic likes me! He's my buddy! I bet he'd never be buddies with _you_, ol' Robotnik, not _ever_!"

Despite the newly acquired dent in his ceiling, Robotnik chuckled. "Little cub, I could tell you stories—"

That was as far as he got before Sonic slammed into the submarine, spinning over and over as he ground through the metal. The fear of Robotnik's exposing the truth – especially to Tails – was enough to cut through the pain and sickness and galvanise him into action.

Smoke started to drift into Robotnik's cockpit and he reacted the only way he could; he dived into the oil, forcing Sonic off to be picked up by his pet fox.

The doctor's eyes narrowed. Well. This machine may have failed to kill Sonic, but he had others lined up, didn't he? Oh yes. He had others.

In the meantime, he also had a leak in the ceiling that he did his best to plug up with one hand while steering with the other. That had been close. Too close for comfort.

Sonic, meanwhile, was back on the platform and trying to ignore the occasional spike of pain in his stomach, something that was helped when a black, slowly dripping hand snuck into his and a pair of happy blue eyes looked up at him adoringly.

"We did it again, huh?"

"Tails..." Sonic stared, momentarily speechless and trying to fight down the steadily rising nausea that was itching his stomach. He hadn't really noticed Tails after the fight had begun, hadn't seen the effect the oil had had on the little fox's fur. "Is that you?"

Tails giggled. "'Course it's me, Sonic!"

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing." Tails tried to snuggle against Sonic, but the hedgehog backed off.

"That's _far_ from nothing! What happened to your fur?"

"What? Oh." Tails glanced down at his thick coat, now made somewhat thicker and a lot darker by the oil in it. "Looks good, huh Sonic? Whatcha think?"

Sonic shook his head, still staring at Tails. Not one strand of hair was left free of oil; the colour made those brilliant blue eyes stand out all the more, but he still looked ridiculous.

Seeing the proud gleam in those eyes, however, Sonic found he couldn't bring himself to point this fact out quite so blatantly, and instead he sighed.

"I think you're gonna need another bath, squirt."

Tails giggled again. "Sure, but not 'til Wednesday, right Sonic?"

"_Wrong_. You can't go around looking like that. Just how did you wind up covered in oil, anyway?"

"I swimmed!" Tails dropped to all fours, shook himself off in that manner peculiar to canines and then straightened up again, looking very pleased with himself. There was no noticeable change in his appearance, although Sonic was now spattered with the sticky goop.

"_Why_?" the hedgehog demanded as he tried in vain to brush some of the oil off his own hide.

"'Cause I heared people in Em'rald Hill Zone talking 'bout how oil was real good for your skin! An' I thought that while I was here I could put some oil on me an' mebbe it'd be real good an' I wouldn't have to have a bath again! An' anyway, I had to save you 'cause you fell into that black oily water stuff, 'member?"

"Yeah, well, your little plan didn't work. You're going into the tub tonight. This afternoon, if I can fix it, though there's not much afternoon left," Sonic added, glancing to where the setting sun was staining the sky orange.

"Can't! 'S not bath night tonight!"

"Tails, when I agreed to only give you one bath a week, I didn't know that you were going to be dumb enough to go skinny dipping in an oil slick!" Sonic said tersely. "Even saving my life isn't enough to get you out of a wash. You're having a bath and that's it. What's the next Zone after this one?"

"There's on'y one more Zone on this island!" Tails said happily. "We're gonna go to Metropolis!"

"Metropolis?" A slow smile slid onto Sonic's face, one that even Robotnik would have been proud of. "That's where that publishing house is, right?"

"Yup!"

The smile broadened. "Pretty cool."

Tails giggled. "Are you gonna go get royalty things from 'em?"

"You bet, and when I do we'll go and buy you the biggest meal you've ever had in your life." Sonic stared down at Tails and folded his arms. "And don't think you've escaped that bath, squirt!"

"Yeah, but...but..." Tails racked his brains for a plausible excuse to ensure he never had to have a bath ever again, and found the perfect one. "I'm 'llergic to bathtubs!"

"Nice try." Sonic headed over to the prison egg, only noticing as he started to jump onto it that Tails was hiding behing a strut and doing his best to twine both his namesakes together so he no longer looked like a two-tailed fox. It worked, after a fashion – he now looked a lot like a big-eared beaver who hadn't been well – but he still wasn't taking any chances.

Well, there would be time enough to coax the little fox out of hiding later, Sonic thought as he destroyed the prison.

This time, instead of the crowds surrounding him that he'd almost gotten used to, there was a silence that was almost shocked, broken only by low whispering.

"I thought Sonic was blue," someone said from behind the hedgehog, just loud enough for him to hear.

"I was until I fell down your oil chutes!" Sonic said tersely. "You really oughta get those roped off." Turning to Tails, he held out his hand. "C'mon out here, squirt."

Tails shook his head so violently his ears flapped, spattering everything within a six foot radius with droplets of oil.

"C'mon lil bro, it's okay. They're not gonna be mean to you."

Another shake of the head. Sonic swore mentally, then crossed over to the little fox and crouched down next to him, putting an arm around his shoulders.

"Tails, trust me. Nobody's gonna make fun of you."

"'S what you said last time." There was clear distrust in Tails' voice, not of Sonic but of everyone else. "Nobody else is cool like you are, Sonic."

"Oh, c'mon, that's not true. What about Beak, back in Chemical Plant Zone? Or all the people in Hill Top? They were pretty cool, remember?"

"I jus' wann'em to leave me 'lone, Sonic. They're all watching, look. How come they're all watching?"

"Maybe they think you don't like them."

"An' I don't." Tails slid closer to Sonic. "I don't like _anyone_, Sonic, not anyone 'cept you an' Beak an' the others."

"You're gonna be one lonely little fox cub if that's true," Sonic said quietly.

"I always been lonely, Sonic." The statement was delivered with a childish simplicity and candour that sent a chill down the hedgehog's spine.

"Kiddo..." Sonic racked his brains for something that might convince the suspicious little fox to trust what he was saying. "If you come with me, they'll give you some food."

Tails looked away mutinously. "Sure, after they spit or peed on it or something."

"Okay, you know, there's a very fine line between understandable caution and paranoia," Sonic remarked. "And you just flew past it."

"What?"

"Never mind. C'mon, trust me."

"I do trust you, Sonic; I jus' don't trust anyone else."

Sonic raised his voice, devoutly hoping the residents currently pretending not to eavesdrop would hear. "Lil bro, I promise that if anyone calls you a freak or laughs at you or makes fun of you, I'll throw 'em into the oil slick." He stood up and took hold of a small, very oily hand. "C'mon."

He led the reluctant Tails out from behind the strut and into the throng of people, noticing their awed silence with a sense of resignation that was dulled by the stabbing pains in his stomach.

"How can we ever thank you?" someone said from behind him.

Ordinarily Sonic would have declined any reward or gift. Now, though, his stomach and fur both seized control of his mouth long enough to say, "A bath, and two of the biggest meals you serve this side of the oil."

"Two for me too!" Tails piped up and then, because he didn't want them to think he was greedy, he added, "But no bath."

"Yes, bath," Sonic told him. "You're _black_."

"I like being black! An' anyway, I don't wanna get their water dirty."

"You won't," a seagull put in, addressing Tails but looking at Sonic. "You're not the first to get coated. We have cleaning facilities specially designed for getting rid of oil."

Tails shook his head. "'Sokay, Sonic's gotta go first 'cause he's the hero an' heroes shouldn't be mucky, but I'm okay."

There was a short pause, then Sonic remarked to the sky, "Shame. Guess I'll have to eat the food myself, won't I?"

"Huh?"

"Well...they won't want to give you food while you're looking like that."

"How come not?"

"It'd get oily and then it would poison you," the seagull put in, who had a chick about Tails' age and was well used to this type of conversation. "And it's not a bath; it's a high-powered immersion in a container of H2O to rid your skin and fur of oil and other impurities."

"Not a bath?" Tails said, in the suspicious tones of one looking for the down side.

"It's like he said, lil bro." Sonic's lips were twitching, although not enough for Tails to notice. "It's not a bath; it's a high-powered immersion in a container of H2O."

Tails tipped his head on one side, only realising his mistake when this caused oil to dribble into one ear.

"Do high-flowered 'mersions hurt, Sonic?"

"Course not."

"They do occasionally tickle," a lion put in, unable to resist joining the fun, "especially when you undergo the vigorous fur-cleaning bubbles which are washed off with the portable rain unit."

"Do you, uh, have one of those portable rain units powerful enough to clean me up without the immersion part?" Sonic asked idly, who secretly had as much of an aversion to baths as Tails, although that was due more to hydrophobia than anything.

"We have one, yes."

"But you gotta have the 'mersion thing too, Sonic, 'cause otherwise it won't be fair."

"No...call it my way of saying sorry for not getting you a birthday present, squirt. You have the ba—the high-powered immersion and I'll just settle for the rain unit."

Tails hesitated. "Well...if you're _sure_..."

"Trust me, lil bro, I was never surer of anything in my life," Sonic said sincerely. He glanced at the seagull. "Lead the way."

**Okay, so after several Zones of Tails' predicting this, Oil Ocean has finally been reached and finished :P Next up, Metropolis ;)**


	14. Metropolis Zone

**Poridet: Yeah...I think 'owies' is a very good way of putting it, although maybe not how Sonic would have phrased it :P**

**DragonUk: (eats chocolate biscuits) I am indeed a sucker for bribes :P And thanks; glad you enjoyed it. Putting Tails in a blender...aw, even I'm not that cruel to my characters ;)**

**TrueVulcanRaven: Thanks :)**

**D.C.111: Heh, no worries :P And thanks; glad you like it (blushes)**

**Hawks Soul: Homework...well, my homework for this consisted of continuously cross-referencing to my dog-eared piece of paper with doodles of various things unique to the level and studying screenshots, not to mention replaying the level :P Believe me, that's more than enough...I was checking back with almost every sentence I wrote ;) Sonic...hmm, yeah, I think hydrophobes take showers :P**

**Maverick87: (blushes) Thanks. Sonic's oil coating...I thought it was kinda weird that he slides down the chutes, falls in the oil ocean and yet is still as bright blue as ever ;)**

**Professor Vengeance: You're right; nobody appreciates the flip side to being an evil genius :P Robotnik's comment was also based on my own experience; before writing this I had no idea how tough it was to come up with 'eggy' names that fit into the machines ;)**

**Gameorama91: Thanks :) As for Sonic revealing his dark past to Tails...heh. Like I told D.C.111, it happens in my fic _Secrets of the Emeralds_ but not in this one ;)**

**K Twenty Two: (blushes) Wow, thanks :D Sonic fics as comics...oh man, that would be the ultimate :D Believe it or not, I have started adapting this one (and _Secrets of the Emeralds_) to comic form...soon as I get my scanner working, I plan to upload them to deviantart. It looks like it's going to take a very long time though; maybe I'll finish it, maybe not;) I did have one person offer to illustrate scenes from_Guardian's Choice_for me but that was ages ago...either they've forgotten orcan't be bothered anymore :(Tails' accent...(shrugs) It's not so much an accent as a young kid's voice; four/five year olds can't pronounce words like adults can :P As for S3&K...I've written parts of it, so after this one is finished...;)**

**Lewisty: Looks like it ;)**

**Reko Reborn: Heh, you had me going there for a minute :P And thanks :D I'm trying to get work with Sega – currently training up in 3dsMax and (hopefully) Maya – so...maybe ;) Then again, I'd be happy being a writer of anything...maybe my own stuff'll get published and someone from Sega will read it and want to hire me there and then. Unlikely, but maybe ;) As to the rest...yes, I do know about copyright and publishing, but I PMed you; it's too long-winded to go into here :P**

**Sonic-Addict: Thanks, I'll try :)**

**Private somebody: Heh, thanks :D As for channelling a megalomaniac and a five year old at the same time...there's not a lot of difference between them sometimes ;)**

**Truten: Ah...will Sonic get royalties or not:P Maybe...all shall be revealed in this chapter ;) And thanks, glad you enjoyed it :D**

**Shadow-spawn180: Thanks and too late, at least for Tails :P As for the royalties scene...well, it's been kicking around ever since the beginning of Casino Night Zone and now I _finally_ get to use it (happy sigh)**

**Matt Lans: Yeah...(cringes) I think I felt Sonic's pain at that attack and I'm not even the right gender ;) A pic of Sonic and Tails covered in oil...ooh, good idea (scrabbles for paper and pen) :P**

**Parslie: Heh, yeah, maybe he could...then again, at four/five years old, you tend to think people know everything about you ;)**

**TC Chan: Thanks :D Sonic going to Metropolis as The Blob…ooh, hadn't thought of that. Well, maybe…no. No, resist temptation :P**

**Milette Tails Prower: I hope so :P And thanks**

Sonic admired his skin for the fourteenth time that morning, tilting his arm from one side to the next.

"Man, I don't think I've _ever_ been this clean!"

The cleansing process had been thorough, invigorating and incredibly powerful; Sonic had been showered under what felt like a fire hydrant, sprayed by jets of soap and detergent, showered, sprayed, scrubbed in what looked like a miniature car wash, showered, sprayed, scrubbed, combed out with what looked like a chamois leather with teeth, showered, sprayed, scrubbed, combed and finally air-blasted in a giant dryer before being shunted out the other end where he'd promptly collapsed, been rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with exhaustion and borderline malnutrition. Sleep had taken care of the first problem and as for the second...well, Sonic planned to get to work on that just as soon as the chilli dogs were ready.

"Feels like I been pounded with a steak mallet though," he added.

The nurse who was in charge of his room for that day – a hedgehog whose fur and quills were so light brown as to be almost golden in the sun and who had introduced herself to him as Maegan – laughed.

"If you'd had feathers, we'd have had to have been a lot gentler. As it was, we could just go for broke."

"Feathers? Great." Sonic shook his head. "Man, why couldn't I have been born Sonic the Budgie?"

The door opened and an orderly came in with a plate of chilli dogs which he placed nervously, almost reverently in front of Sonic before scurrying out again.

"You know, everyone in this Zone seems to be tiptoeing around me like I'm some kinda bomb," Sonic said, a little waspishly. "You wanna tell me what that's about?"

Maegan hesitated. "You don't know?"

"No."

"Well...you're completely different to what we expected."

Sonic blinked. "Different? How?"

The look never left the nurse's eyes and Sonic finally managed to pin down what it was; awe and admiration mixed with appalled pity.

"You're just a kid."

Sonic smiled slightly, a somewhat cynical expression. "Am I."

It wasn't a question, but one look at those jade eyes still gave Maegan her answer. They were the oldest eyes she had ever seen, and seeing them in the face of an eleven year old made it even more starkly obvious.

"Is it true you destroyed Robotnik's Sky Base all by yourself?"

Sonic snorted. "Well, I sure didn't have any help."

That still rankled, even now. He'd hoped Mighty at least would have stuck by him, but the 'dillo had been too wrapped up in grief for his family to even think of such a thing.

The door clicked open at that point, interrupting Sonic's thoughts, and Tails padded in, his own fur so clean it was gleaming…at least, clean except for the pink ring around his mouth, which could be attributed to the stick of rock he was holding.

"Hey lil bro." Sonic grinned. "How's things?"

"Sonic! You're 'wake!" Tails bounded over to sit next to Sonic, swinging his legs. "Boy, I thought you were gonna sleep forever!"

"Me? Nah." Sonic swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Maegan said.

"Getting up," Sonic said, in a _what-does-it-look-like_ kind of tone.

"I'm not allowed to let you up without official permission from the doctor," the nurse said severely.

"You gotta listen to her, Sonic," Tails said around a mouthful of peppermint candy. "She's real nice an' she fed me an' she's been looking after you real good."

"Fed you?" Sonic echoed.

"Uh huh! Loadsa chocolate an' I ate _two_ double layered triple frosted chocolate fudge cakes for breakfast this morning _an_' she gave me a chocolate milkshake to drink _an'_ a pella pie!"

Sonic fixed Maegan with a look. "Oh _really_?"

"Yup!" Tails licked his rock enthusiastically, then remembered what Sonic had said outside Oil Ocean and held it out. "You wanna have some?"

"Not after you've just slurped on it, no," Sonic answered, "but thanks for the offer." He returned his attention to Maegan. "Make sure he eats something healthy as well."

"'Sokay Sonic; I told her you were cool an' didn't make me eat icky stuff like vegetables," Tails piped up, sucking noisily on his sweet.

"Yeah, I bet you did," Sonic muttered. "How was the immersion, kiddo?"

"Cool! They put me in this washy thing that squirted me with water an' then all these brushes came down an' they were real tickly, an' then they dried me an' lookit me!" Tails beamed hugely.

"Yeah, you look great, lil bro. I almost didn't recognise you."

"You _didn't_?" Tails looked stricken. "Mebbe I should go jump in a mud puddle."

Sonic blinked. "What?"

"Well, if you didn't rek'nise me, mebbe you'll go without me when you leave an' I don't want you to go without me." The expression on Tails' face was now so genuinely worried that Sonic swung both legs around to sit on the side of the bed and lifted the little fox up next to him.

"You think I'd leave my little brother behind?" he said lightly, ruffling the gleaming fur between Tails' ears.

"You might if you didn't rek'nise him. Mebbe you'd think I'd gone on ahead or something an' then mebbe you'd go on after me when all the time I was here waiting for you an'…an' we'd never see each other again..." Tails' voice trailed off and Sonic laughed.

"You really are a worst-case scenario little fox, aren't you, squirt?"

"I'm _not_ little!" Tails protested. "An' what's a safario?"

"Doesn't matter." Sonic caught hold of Tails, pulled him down and—

"Hey! No fair tummy rubs!" Tails protested as he tried unsuccessfully to wriggle free. "How come you always do that, huh Sonic? How come?"

Sonic laughed again, easing his hold just enough for Tails to scramble over and headbutt him hard. "I dunno, kiddo. I just think it's pretty cute how your leg pumps like that." His stomach growled and he placed a hand over it. "Anything to eat in this place?"

"I c'n buy us food, Sonic!" Tails boasted.

"Oh, like you did in Casino Night Zone?" Sonic quipped, then regretted it as Tails' ears drooped.

"I _said_ 'm sorry for that _loadsa_ times, Sonic."

"I know, lil bro. I know. I was only kidding. How are you going to buy us food when you don't have any money?"

"I do! See?" Tails held up a brand new ten Mobium note, beaming all over his little face.

"Wow. Where'd you get that?" Funny how perspectives changed, Sonic thought wryly; when he'd had his life savings of over three hundred Mobiums with him, he'd thought nothing of spending ten here or there…now he was flat broke, ten Mobiums looked like a small fortune.

"I got it when you were sleeping! I know you don't have any money an' I wanted to get some an' buy food 'cause then you'd be happy again an' I _know_ what it's like to be real real hungry, Sonic an'…an'…Sonic, you're not gonna tell me I did something bad _again_, are you?" Tails pleaded, catching sight of the hedgehog's expression.

"That kinda depends on where you found that ten Mobiums, kiddo. How'd you get it?"

"I went out an' looked cute! Cool, huh Sonic?"

Sonic hesitated. Tails was so proud of himself and it looked like he was going to be so thoroughly hurt and heartbroken if the hedgehog made him do the right thing that Sonic wasn't sure what to do.

"Sonic?" Apprehensive at the fact that his big brother (and boy, if the kids back in Emerald Hill Zone could only see him _now_!) hadn't leapt up in delight, Tails ducked both namesakes between his legs. "Sonic, I _didn't _do something bad, did I?"

"No," Sonic conceded. After all, if people wanted to give away so much money, that wasn't Tails' fault. "Just…tell me exactly how you got it?"

"I looked cute!"

"In a little more detail than that, squirt."

Not quite sure if Sonic was angry with him or not, Tails squirmed. "Well…I went out an' into the streets an' sat on a kerb an' looked as cute as I could an' a guy an' girl came an' sat down an' asked what I was doing there, so I said I was trying to get some money to buy food for you an' they took me back to their 'partment an' the girl said if I helped her make cookies she'd gimme some money so I helped her _an'_ I cleaned the oven after an' she gave me summa the cookies an' ten Mobiums an'…an' Sonic, _please_ don't be mad at me."

Sonic smiled slightly. "I'm not mad at you, kiddo. Seems you earned those Mobiums fair and square. What'd you do with the cookies she gave you?"

"Ate them!"

"Oh well, in _that_ case, yeah, I am mad at you," Sonic quipped, a slight grin on his face to let the little fox know he wasn't serious.

Tails hesitated, then offered up the ten-Mobium note.

"I thought you'd rather have the money 'cause then you can buy loadsa cookies!"

Sonic shook his head. "No, you keep it, Tails. You worked for it, it's yours."

The little fox's eyes grew huge and hurt. "You mean…you don't wannit?"

"You earned it, lil bro."

"But…but I earned it for _you_." Tails pulled out Sonic's hand and pushed the money into it, looking at him beseechingly and folding the hedgehog's fingers over the note.

"Why don't you look after it for Sonic?" Maegan put in, having followed the conversation with no small amount of amusement.

"Yeah." Sonic pounced on the suggestion with no small feeling of relief. "Yeah, that's a great idea. Because it might get damaged when I'm fighting Robotnik, and that'd be a shame after all your hard work, wouldn't it?"

Tails' face cleared. "Boy, would it ever!" He stashed the note safely away, then seized Sonic's hand. "C'mon, we gotta go to Metropolis!"

"Hold it." Maegan caught hold of Sonic's other hand. "He's not going anywhere, not until he's fully recovered. Your friend's very weak."

"I am not," Sonic protested, trying to free one of his hands long enough to wave it dismissively.

"Who's the nurse here, me or you?" Maegan pushed Sonic back onto the bed. "You got a lot of making up to do. You've already caught up on your sleep, now let's see if we can't get some more food into you. I'm not letting you out of hospital until you're fully healthy."

Sonic glared at her, then abruptly gave in. "Fine, but you can at least let me out of _bed_. Maybe I'm not fighting fit, but I'm not an invalid!"

Maegan studied him. "Will you give me your word not to race out of your room the first chance you get?"

"Um…" Sonic pretended to consider, then grinned. "I promise I won't race out the hospital, how's that?" He took an enormous bite of his chilli dog, chewed and swallowed. "Especially not with food like this. I think I can stick around…ooh, about two days."

In fact it was a week before Sonic was pronounced fully healthy again, and another day before he and Tails managed to get going for Metropolis Zone; the residents of Oil Ocean insisted on loading them down with parting gifts, mostly of food (Sonic refused all offers of cash, hoping that his visit to the publishing house would put him in the black again).

Several miles away, the factory and main power source for Metropolis Zone – easily the same size as a city – had been empty ever since Robotnik had taken over and filled it with his own bots. He'd done surprisingly little in the way of traps; with all the pistons, gears, uncovered pools of liquid energy that was comparable in temperature to lava, he thought that anything else might be considered overkill and maybe even a sign of insecurity.

Looking over his Egg-O-Matic – now redesigned into his latest Sonic-smashing device – he permitted himself a satisfied smirk. There was no way that spiny little pest would make it through this factory, but Robotnik was a firm believer in the for-want-of-a-nail theory, and there was no point taking unnecessary risks. On the offchance that Sonic did survive long enough to make it through, Robotnik wanted to be ready for him.

Settling himself on the highest platform he could find, he opened the latest issue of _Science Weekly_ and started to read.

On the other side of the factory, if someone placed their ear to the wall, they might hear something like this:

"OW!"

"Sorry."

"You wanna watch where you're going? That was my tail!"

"I said I was sorry." Pause. "_Owp_! Soddic, dat was by dose!"

"Sorry lil bro." _Clang_. "Hm. Wonder what that was."

"A big pipey thing."

"Yeah? How'd you know?"

"'Cause it jus' hit me on the head. Sonic, c'n you please take your foot out of my ear?"

"Yeah. As soon as you take _yours_ off my wrist! Guy's gotta be able to move, Tails."

Pause.

"Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"What's the plan again?"

There was a sigh. "How many times? We slip into one of the air vents undetected—"

"Done that."

"—then we find our way into the main factory—"

"Yup."

"—since the energy here will be enough to light up the ducts."

Pause.

"I dunno, Sonic, but it doesn't seem light to _me_."

"Alright, fine! I screwed up! Happy now?" Another pause, then, "Hey, I think I found the exit."

There was a sound like a chainsaw revving and a section of metal wall dropped neatly onto the ground, where it continued to smoulder for a few seconds as Sonic emerged.

"Wow!" Close behind, Tails looked around. "_Cool_! You're real cool, Sonic; I think we're in the middle of the fact'ry! You got us past any traps ol' Robotnik set up!"

Sonic paused in the middle of dusting himself down, smirked and tried to make it look like he'd planned it that way.

The noise was almost deafening. Pistons, gears and machinery that Sonic couldn't even begin to identify were grinding away furiously in the background, and the factory was illuminated partly by the liquid energy – Mobian energy was some form of lava crossed with electricity, and that was all Sonic knew about it – and partly by the huge fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling. It was just a shame nobody had thought to install bulbs in the air ducts, the hedgehog thought, glowering at the improvised exit he'd created.

"Where's ol' Robotnik, Sonic?" Tails asked eagerly.

"I don't know and I don't wanna know," Sonic answered. "C'mon. Let's get moving."

"Okay." Tails seized Sonic's hand and tugged him along, only stopping when he collided with what looked like a smaller, brown version of the valves they'd encountered back in Oil Ocean.

Some instinct warned Sonic and he yanked Tails back just as scalding steam exploded from the sides of the valve. Unlike the Oil Ocean ones, the top didn't fly off this one but instead clunked back down. Sonic guessed the machinery was in better repair here...either that or the ones in Oil Ocean had got just that little bit too much oil.

"C'mon kiddo. This way." He led Tails carefully around the valves, came face to face with what looked like a huge, rotating tunnel and stopped dead. "What the..."

"Cool!" Tails scampered past and bounced into the tunnel, shrieking with laughter as some form of gravity caught hold of him and spun him over and over.

"Tails!" Sonic raced into the tunnel, grabbed the little fox and carried him out to safety. "What did we agree about dangerous situations?"

Tails giggled, head and eyes meandering dizzily. "'S not dang'rous, Sonic, 's fun."

"Any situation that might involve Robotnik or one of his traps is dangerous."

"You're jus' jealous 'cause _you_ didn't get to ride it first!"

"Dammit, Tails, do you think this is a _game_?" Sonic stared hard at the little fox. "This is reality, kid. You die here, you don't get any extra lives, you don't get any continues…you die here and the game's over, kid."

"But I didn't die, Sonic, an' that spinning tunnel thingy's really _cool_!"

"You think everything's really cool." Sonic's tones were due more to abject terror than any real anger; the fear he'd felt when he thought Tails was in danger was only just beginning to fade.

"Nuh uh, jus' ev'rything that's fun!" Tails looked back at the tunnel. "How come it spins like that, Sonic?"

"I've no idea." Taking a long, deep breath, Sonic exhaled slowly and felt some of the adrenaline slide away. Looking up at the corridor above them, he frowned slightly. "How're we gonna get up there?"

Tails didn't answer, largely because he'd found a big switch and was busy jumping up and down on it with both feet to see what would happen.

A grinding sound drew Sonic's attention upwards again to where a bridge was extending until it settled into place with a _chunk_.

The hedgehog smirked slightly.

"Okay. Guess that answers that question. C'mon squirt."

Tails abandoned his switch and raced to join Sonic, flying to land neatly next to him on the bridge and then on the platform.

Neither of them noticed the star shaped robot clinging to the wall below.

"Sonic?" Tails said after they'd been going for a few minutes in relative silence.

"Yeah, lil buddy?"

"What's that clanging sound?"

The hedgehog frowned. "Clanging sound?"

Tails nodded. "Uh huh. 'S like something real big an' metal pounding an' pounding an' _pounding_. Is it gonna squish us?"

"How should I know? Ask me again once it turns up."

They didn't have long to wait. As Sonic and Tails rounded a corner, they both caught sight of what Tails had heard…and heard with surprising accuracy, Sonic admitted wryly, since 'metal things pounding' turned out to be exactly what it was. A pair of pistons, so large that Sonic could have stood next to one and struggled to see over the rim, were crashing up and down with rhythmic precision. The hedgehog could see the corridor continuing on into the factory on the other side, but he was damned if he'd try running across those pistons!

Tails, however, had other plans. Timing his moment carefully, he scampered forward as the pistons were up, leapt into the gap underneath, turned to wave at Sonic and jumped clear a split second before they crashed down again.

There were some days, Sonic thought grimly, when he could cheerfully have waved goodbye to his little sidekick!

Gathering his nerves, he closed his eyes, hoped this was going to work and bolted across the pistons as they slammed down.

"Tails, what the hell was _that_?" he yelled above the noise of clanking machinery.

Tails beamed. "Didja see me? I was cool like you, Sonic! I cheated death with a brave, death defying leap an' with a bound I was free, jus' like it says in your comics!"

"You could have been killed!"

"Well, I couldn't hardly do a brave, death defying leap on a bouncy castle, could I?" Tails pointed out reasonably.

Sonic let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding and gripped Tails tightly by the arms. "Don't you ever, _ever_ scare me like that again!"

Tails flattened his ears. "Did I do something bad again?"

"You broke one of our rules, squirt. I go first into any dangerous situations, remember?"

Relieved that Sonic apparently wasn't going to start yelling at him, Tails relaxed slightly. "Yeah, but you _didn't_ go. I thought you were waiting for me, honest. An' I'm sorry but I really like this place an' I didn't wanna go yet." Enthusiasm taking over again, Tails added, "Lookit all these cool pipey machiney things, Sonic! No wonder ol' Robotnik wanted to take over this place!"

Of course, there was that, Sonic admitted. To someone as mechanically gifted as Tails, this place must be better than a candy store.

"I know, kiddo, I know, but we gotta be careful. We don't know what any of this stuff does and I'd hate you to get hurt." Sonic's own relief at Tails' survival was kicking in and he winked. "C'mon. Where do we go now?"

"Uh…" Tails frowned. "You're asking _me_?"

Sonic quirked an eye ridge at him. "Well, you're supposed to be my guide, aren't you?"

Contrary to the jubilant response he'd been expecting, Tails' ears drooped and he chewed on his bottom lip. "Does that mean you don't wanna little brother anymore, Sonic?"

"Little brothers can be guides too," Sonic pointed out. As he expected, Tails immediately perked up.

"Boy, can they ever! Okay, c'mon! We go…uh…this way!" Seizing Sonic by the hand, he pulled him along, racing through the corridors until they came to what looked like an elevator crossed with the same kind of pipes Sonic had seen back in Chemical Plant Zone.

"You want to go _in_ there?" he said incredulously.

Tails' face lit up. "Boy, do I ever! You're the coolest, Sonic!"

Before the hedgehog had a chance to answer, Tails had hauled him into the pipe. There was a flash of white light, followed by a sensation of terrific suction and they were eventually spat out of another entrance a few floors down.

"That was _not_ an invitation, Tails!" Sonic said, as soon as he'd recovered his breath.

"It wasn't?" Tails frowned in perplexity. "What was it, Sonic?"

Sonic's mouth opened and closed for a few minutes before he said, "Never mind. C'mon, let's keep moving."

This was a suggestion Sonic came to regret very shortly, as soon as he saw the three blocks extending from the walls, like horizontal pillars.

"We c'n jump on these, huh Sonic?" Tails said hopefully. "It's not dangerous, right?"

"They don't look dangerous," Sonic agreed. "Okay. You wanna lead the way, lil bro?"

"Yeah!" Tails raced forward, leapt and then took off rapidly as a row of spears erupted from slots all along the top side of the pillar. As they watched, the deadly blades retracted to shoot out the right hand side.

"Uh. I changed my mind." Landing, Tails crowded behind Sonic and nudged him towards the spearblocks. "You c'n go first."

"Thanks a lot." Sonic studied the blocks carefully. The spears were clearly mechanical – they were going around in a clockwise direction with perfect rhythm and regularity – but they didn't all emerge from the same side at the same time.

Well…maybe…

Hoping like hell he hadn't misjudged this and that the spears wouldn't suddenly change direction and erupt underneath him, Sonic leapt across them. His foot slipped as he reached the third, and he would have fallen if Tails hadn't been hovering above him.

"Pretty cool, huh Sonic?" Tails dumped the hedgehog unceremoniously on his backside a little way from the third spearblock, then flew back to study it curiously. "How'd they get the spiky things to come up?"

Sonic shivered. "I don't know, and if finding out can't help us to _stop_ them coming out then I don't wanna know."

"Oh. Okay." Tails looked down admiringly at the spears for a few minutes, then caught sight of something far more interesting. "Ooh! Look, Sonic, there's another switch!"

Flying over to it, he jumped on it hard, then frowned. Must be broken; it hadn't made a bridge appear.

"Tails?" Sonic's voice came from somewhere down below and Tails flew down the large gap to rejoin the hedgehog. Odd. He hadn't noticed that gap before.

"Yup?"

From where he was half collapsed on a platform that was moving along at a fair pace, Sonic fixed Tails with a glare. "What did I tell you about collapsing bridges when I'm standing on them?"

Tails flattened his ears. "Oops. Sorry." He landed next to Sonic. "Where we going?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Sonic frowned as he studied the opposite platform. He could make out something there, some kind of green thing, but at that distance he couldn't see what it was.

The mystery solved itself a few minutes later as the thing took shape; a vivid green robot built to look like some kind of insect…maybe a grasshopper or something, thought Sonic, whose grasp of entomology was only slightly shakier than his grasp of science as a whole.

Given a few more minutes, he might have figured it out, but the possible-grasshopper detached both bladed arms from their moorings and hurled them at Sonic with such pinpoint accuracy that the hedgehog did the only thing he could to save himself; he grabbed Tails and leapt off the platform.

The fall wasn't so bad, he remembered thinking much later. At the very least, sliding down several steep slopes and falling down plenty more minor shafts – albeit ones with yellow triangular bumper things that ricocheted him off the opposite wall several times – at least that was preferable to being carved up by a pair of giant razor blades.

When he'd hit the floor (and spent several seconds there without falling any further) Sonic risked getting to his feet.

"Why'd we jump?" Tails asked curiously.

"Didn't you see those blades?"

"Oh sure, but you're Sonic the hedgehog. You c'n dodge those old blades with…with…with your _eyes _shut!"

Sonic let that one go; he couldn't be bothered to correct the little fox. "Whatever. Where are we now?" He sniffed. "And what's that smell?"

"What smell?"

"That kind of burning, electrical smell. If I can smell it, squirt, you oughta be able to."

Tails sniffed loudly for a few minutes, then his face lit up. "Yup! I got it! I think it's coming from that great big pool of bright red glowy stuff!"

Sonic followed the little fox's pointing finger to the red glowy stuff in question and felt his blood run cold.

"Lava?"

Tails giggled. "Nuh uh! Nobody uses lava for energy, Sonic, 'cause it's too hot! They zap the lava with 'lectrics an' use _that_."

"Oh great." Sonic scanned the glowing lake ahead of them. "So if we fall, not only do we get burned, we get zapped as well."

"Nuh uh," Tails said again, "'cause we can jump on those platforms! See?" He pointed again, this time at a rotating pulley system that had several small platforms attached to it. "Or mebbe I c'n fly you across—"

"Let's try the platforms," Sonic said shortly. Tails' intentions were always good, but the same couldn't always be said about his ability to carry them through.

"Cool!" Tails scampered forward and bounced on a switch that Sonic hadn't noticed until then, extending the platform they were standing on by several feet.

The hedgehog relaxed slightly. That made it easier; at least the jump didn't have to be as exact as he'd originally thought.

Taking a deep breath, he ran to the edge and jumped, landing neatly on one of the smaller platforms and seizing the pulley cable as tight as he could.

"Ha! I beat you, Sonic!" From three platforms across, Tails beamed at him. "I got here first an' I'm gonna land on that block first!"

"Tails, this isn't a race." Almost immediately the treacherous thought flashed through Sonic's mind, _But it could be_.

He shook his head, dismissing it angrily. No. No way.

Up ahead, Tails jumped onto a block that was bobbing cheerfully in the energy and bounced off again, landing on the next pulley and from there jumping onto the opposite platform.

Sonic, on the other hand, was left with a problem; namely the little fact that Tails' jumping onto the block had sunk it, leaving him stranded on a machine that was rapidly carrying him towards the very thing it had just saved him from.

There was only one thing for it. He'd have to leap from pulley to pulley and hope that somehow, he made it.

Judging his distance as carefully as he could in the time – he really did _not_ want to think about what would happen if he missed – Sonic took as much of a run up as was afforded by the small platform and leapt.

He almost made it as well. As it was, his feet hit the opposite pulley and slid off. Scrabbling for a hold, he managed to grip the edges of the platform, which swung crazily, almost tipping him off, and haul himself onto it, then took another jump and landed next to Tails, dropping onto his hands and knees and rolling sideways.

"Feel free to give me a hand anytime!" he said tersely.

"That was _cool_!" Clearly not hearing a word Sonic had just said, Tails padded over to look down at his hero with adoring blue eyes. "I wish I'd thoughta that, Sonic, that pretending you were gonna fall off that platform an' you didn't!"

"I wasn't pretending, Tails."

"Sure you were! You're Sonic the hedgehog, 'member? You're unwhumpable!" Tails beamed. "An' speaking of whumping, Sonic, I got another bot! Didja see me?"

"No, I was too busy trying not to plummet to my death," Sonic retorted, with a little more sarcasm than was strictly necessary.

"Oh." Undeterred, Tails pressed on. "Well, I whumped it real good, Sonic! See?"

He pointed to the mess of machinery, wires and chips that was unrecognisable as anything, and Sonic devoutly hoped that it _had_ been some kind of bot. If it hadn't, he and Tails were going to have some explaining to do once they freed the people of Metropolis Zone.

"Yeah, I see. You sure it was a bot?"

Tails nodded. "Uh huh! I was gonna land an' I saw this giant crabby thing an' it shot out an arm an' tried to whump me, Sonic, but I whumped it first!"

"Yeah, I gathered." Sonic pushed himself to his feet. Tails' enthusiasm was infectious and the hedgehog found himself grinning back. "You're getting pretty good at bot-whumping, huh?"

"I sure am! Mebbe I could be the next national hero when you retire, huh Sonic?"

Sonic laughed. "If I'm still alive come retirement age, we'll talk about it, how's that?"

"Okay!" Tails raced forward and skidded to a confused halt underneath a shaft. "Hey Sonic, how're we gonna get up here?"

The hedgehog joined him a moment later. "Maybe we won't have to." When Tails looked baffled, Sonic nodded towards a door that had been set in the wall. "Try that."

"Oh. Okay." Feeling a little silly that he hadn't spotted it before, Tails grabbed the handle, only to find it rattled uselessly in his grasp. "I think it's locked, Sonic."

"You sure? Maybe it's just stuck." After several fruitless attempts of his own, Sonic finally admitted defeat. "Okay, it's locked."

Tails' ears lifted hopefully. "Hey, mebbe you could spindash it, huh Sonic?"

"I could, but I'm not going to. It's not nice to destroy people's doors without a good reason, lil bro."

"We wanna get through. How come that's not a good reason, Sonic?"

The hedgehog rolled his eyes. "Never mind." Craning his neck back, he saw a platform moving back and forth above them. "We're gonna have to get onto that, squirt."

"You want me to carry you?"

"Save your strength, lil buddy; I think you're gonna need it." Sonic curled into a ball, revved up and exploded into action, ascending straight up the opposite wall. When he thought the time was right, he kicked off and landed squarely on the platform.

There was a thwapping sound and Tails came to hover next to him.

"That was the coolest thing _ever_!"

Sonic waved a hand. "Ah, it was nothing." Jumping onto the next ledge, he stretched out leisurely. "Just a little exercise, that's all."

The grin died off his face as he saw the giant cog up ahead. There were no others to be seen (thank goodness for small favours, he thought; at least there was no risk of getting crushed between two of them) but it looked like the only way across the liquid energy he could see underneath. Worse yet, there was no platform either; just what looked like a giant nut-and-bolt combination that he might be able to jump to. _Might_.

"Tails?"

"Yup?"

"If we jumped onto that cog, could you fly me from there to that bolt?" Was it a bolt that was the round bit, or was that the bit you put _into_ the round bit? Sonic didn't know.

"That what?" Tails said.

"The big round metal thing, kiddo; you can't miss it."

"Huh? Ohhh, _that_." Tails beamed. "Sure I can, Sonic! C'mon, let's go!"

Grabbing the hedgehog's hand, he raced forward, bounded onto the cog and had taken off before Sonic had a chance to really register what was happening.

Dumping the hedgehog squarely on the bolt, Tails collapsed next to him, panting for breath.

"Whatcha gonna do now, Sonic?"

Sonic didn't answer, mostly because the idea he'd just had was so crazy he was almost embarrassed to tell anyone about it. Instead he started to run and to his amazement it worked; the bolt started turning, taking them with it.

"Uh. Sonic?" Tails said after a few minutes had passed.

"Yeah?"

"How come we're going back down when I thought we were gonna go up?"

Oops. Sonic hit the brakes, grabbing the screw, nut, bolt, or whatever the big metallic pillar thing in the middle was called, and hastily reversed direction.

Going up was a little easier and smoother than coming down, largely because Tails was now helping instead of rotating round with the bolt and forcing Sonic to jump over him every rotation.

"We're not gonna hit the ceiling, are we?" Tails asked nervously.

"No. No, we're not." Sonic answered as he leapt off. Inwardly he was glad Tails had pointed it out; if he hadn't, chances were good the hedgehog might have kept going and been turning too fast to stop by the time he realised he was about to be crushed.

They walked on down the corridor together for about ten minutes, neither saying much until they found themselves in a huge room with the prison egg at one end.

Tails' face lit up. "Hey, look! Guess ol' Robotnik's not here, huh Sonic?"

"Sure." Sonic leaned against the wall, arms folded across his chest.

"Uh. Sonic?" Tails padded over and peered up into his adopted brother's face nervously. "Whatcha doing?"

"Waiting."

"Whatcha waiting for?"

"You'll see." Sonic returned his gaze to the room.

After several minutes had gone by, Robotnik got bored with waiting for the hedgehog to enter the room and be ambushed, and so he glided down.

"You're late. Again."

"This is one hell of a big Zone, doc," Sonic answered. "Next time you wanna take over the world, would it hurt you to start in a closet or something?"

"An intriguing idea, Sonic, but I'm sure you won't be offended if I don't oblige you." Robotnik paused for effect, then added, "Although I must admit I did take your other suggestion into account."

"You mean the bit about installing a self-destruct switch in your machines?" Sonic said, not very hopefully.

"No, I just took care to be more original with my names," Robotnik answered pleasantly. "Here. I want to introduce you to a close personal friend of mine."

This remark went unanswered by either Sonic or Tails. He could practically hear the _whoosh_ as it swept over their heads and sighed. That was the problem with trying to take over an alien planet; all your best plagiarised lines fell flat.

"This is my Eggsploder."

Sonic quirked an eye ridge; as far as he could see, the Eggsploder was nothing more than Robotnik's normal Egg-O-Matic. "That's what you call original?"

Robotnik heaved a martyred sigh. "There's just no pleasing some people, is there, Sonic?"

"You never named your machines back on Green Island."

"True, but these machines are a little like hovercars. Most Mobians name their vehicles, after all; why should I be any different?"

"You're not a Mobian, doc." Sonic eyed the distance contemplatively before reluctantly deciding that Robotnik was a little too high to jump on.

Robotnik chuckled. "Oh, Sonic. You know, for all your other faults, I never had you down as a xenophobe."

"He's _not_ a zeenypoke," Tails shouted indignantly, "he's a hedgehog!"

"I'm not xenophobic," Sonic shot back, ignoring the little fox. "I'm just not too happy with someone who wants to pound me into a hedgehog pancake, no matter who they are!"

"Oh, but we did the pounding thing back in Aquatic Ruin," Robotnik reminded him pleasantly. "I have something much more…original this time."

He pushed a button, and what looked like balloons emerged from the underbelly, orbiting his Eggsploder like crazed satellites.

"Let me guess," Sonic said flatly. "Bombs?"

"Well, they aren't water balloons, Sonic. Touch one and they'll be scraping you off the ceiling."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "You just don't quit, do you?"

"You're a fine one to talk." Robotnik started gliding back and forth above them, bombs circling too fast and too erratically for Sonic to dare attack. He tried jumping a couple of times, but each time Robotnik simply discharged one of his bombs that, if the somewhat precise path they took was anything to go by, were equipped with homing devices, and the narrowness of his escapes on both occasions (helped largely by Tails) made Sonic reluctant to repeat the experiment.

"So what now, doc?" he demanded. "Stalemate? You can't kill me and I can't beat you, is that what you want?"

"Well, I'd prefer to spray your slimy little innards all over this Zone, Sonic, but your suggestion is a possible second choice, yes. If I can't kill you, the very least I can do is make sure you don't interfere with my plans."

Sonic tuned him out, mind working frantically. The bombs. That was it. The key was in the bombs; if they were gone, the Eggsploder would be defenceless.

The problem was that short of standing underneath and inviting Robotnik to drop them on him, Sonic couldn't for the life of him see how he was going to accomplish this minor miracle.

Tails raced forward, leaping into the air and hovering at an eye level with Robotnik.

"You're gonna be sorry, ol' Robotnik! Sonic's thinking up a real smart, cool plan an' then he's gonna whump you real good!"

"Really?" Robotnik detached another of his bombs, watching Sonic's narrow escape from this one with a smirk. "I'd say this is going to be more a case of – if you'll pardon the paraphrase – the whumper whumped."

_Five bombs_. Maybe there was enough of a gap now…Sonic leapt into the air and managed to dodge the bombs to land a solid hit on the Eggsploder, and the little fact that this violent action dislodged a fourth bomb only slightly marred his triumph. He had to hand it to the people of Metropolis; they built damn good factories. Despite having been blasted by four explosives, the building was still standing, was hardly even marked.

An idea occurred to Sonic. "Tails, when I say _now_ I want you to divebomb the Eggsploder as hard and as fast as you can, okay?"

"Okay!" Tails glowered at Robotnik, who was now watching him with single-minded intensity, ready to throw up his defences as soon as he heard Sonic's voice again.

Something rammed him from underneath, hard, and the shock snapped him back in his seat.

The gall of the rodent! The sheer, unmitigated _gall_! Sonic had double-crossed him! While Robotnik had been busy watching Tails, the blue pest had attacked from underneath! It was _insufferable_, it was…it was…

Well, it was exactly what Robotnik himself would have done in the same situation, but that wasn't the _point_!

Another series of explosions from underneath informed him that the force of Sonic's attack had dislodged another three bombs. Well. That was one consolation; there was no way the hedgehog could have survived that.

"Nice view from up here."

"What?" Robotnik twisted his head around and looked up at a grinning Sonic, who was standing on the back of the Eggsploder.

"I'll show you, you little pest!" Flicking switches, Robotnik recalibrated the targeting device within the bomb, set it to hit Sonic where he stood, past caring that this would blast the Eggsploder out of the sky as well.

Seeing what he was doing, Sonic leapt off, catching the bomb and yanking it free before dropping to the ground and hurling it away from him just as Robotnik pressed the manual detonation switch.

The blast didn't kill Sonic, but it did throw him across the room. His head hit the wall with an audible _crack_ and he slid down it, dazed.

Robotnik grinned at him. "Looks like it's the end of the line for you, Sonic."

Sonic staggered to his feet one hand on the wall and, much to the doctor's discomfiture, grinned back.

"Guess what, Robuttnik? You just ran outta weapons."

He winked at Tails, who was now giggling so hard at Sonic's new name for Robotnik that he was having difficulty staying airborne.

Robotnik sneered at him. "I've got one more, Sonic."

Sonic didn't wait to find out what it was. Instead he leapt, curling over and burrowing up for a devastating attack.

And this time, it worked. There was no hidden defence, no water or oil for Robotnik to hide in; Sonic burrowed and kept burrowing until he felt the Eggsploder begin to fall. Jumping clear, he stood over the wreckage with folded arms.

"You're finished, doc."

He had to hand it to him; even when sitting in the wreckage of his machine, Robotnik still wouldn't surrender. A smile appeared on the doctor's face.

"I hardly think so, Sonic."

Pulling a remote from inside the glove compartment, he pushed a series of buttons and a white light descended from the sky.

"Is he dying?" Tails asked curiously.

"No." Sonic stared. Surely Robotnik wasn't…he hadn't…he _couldn't_!

Yet even as the hedgehog watched, the doctor and his Eggsploder were sucked into the air and into nothingness by an invisible force.

"What was that?" Tails wanted to know.

"Transporter beam." Sonic looked away, feeling sick. If he'd only struck…if he hadn't _waited_…damn, Robotnik had been _beaten_! "Who knows where it took him?"

"Oh." Tails was silent for a couple of minutes. "But we got him off Westside Island, huh Sonic?"

"Yeah." Sonic glanced down at the little fox and smiled, a smile of pure relief. "Yeah, lil bro, we did. You and me."

_At least until next time,_ he thought grimly, but kept that particular gem to himself as he leapt up and onto the prison egg, freeing the inhabitants. After all, why borrow trouble when you could get it so often for free?

It took several days before things in Metropolis Zone returned to normal, and Sonic and Tails were interviewed, photographed, sought out and gave so many autographs that by the end of it Sonic's wrist was aching and Tails' cursive signature was pretty much perfect.

It was a week after the Zone was running smoothly that Sonic decided he'd spared Offerings Publishing House and Manufacturers long enough, and so he persuaded Tails to leave the apartment they were currently squatting in (the estate agents had been falling over themselves to give them a property, and Sonic could have set himself up in one of the biggest mansions on Mobius if he'd wanted) and come for a walk with him.

It wasn't just sensitivity on the hedgehog's part which had kept him out of the publisher's for so long; he'd been half hoping that they would come to him and they could negotiate from there. When this hadn't happened, and when Sonic had spotted a new issue of the Sonic Comic on the shelves (this one dealing with his defeat of Robotnik in Metropolis Zone, and that really pissed him off; even with front row seats to the fight, the writers had still managed to get it completely wrong, giving Robotnik ten giant nuclear warheads) he'd made up his mind to confront them himself.

"Where we going?" Tails wanted to know as he trotted along by Sonic's side, holding his hand tightly.

"I got a few chores to do, squirt, that's all."

Tails sighed. "Chores are _boring_, Sonic. Why do I gotta come with you, huh?"

Sonic winked at him. "Tell you what, kiddo. You come with me while I do my chores, and we'll go to that big water park afterwards. How's that?"

Tails' face lit up. "Really? You mean it?"

"You bet." Sonic had been avoiding the park in question like the plague; it was one of the largest and grandest not only in Metropolis Zone but in the whole of Westside Island. Still, he didn't have to swim, and Tails had stayed out of trouble and been so well behaved lately that the hedgehog felt he deserved a treat.

"Okay! What we gonna do first?"

Sonic glanced down at him.

"That ten Mobiums, kiddo, can I borrow it?"

Tails pulled out and looked at the note which represented all his monetary wealth, then looked away and handed it up to Sonic, ears drooping slightly.

"Thanks, little bro. I'll give you another one as soon as I can."

Tails looked up at him. "You promise?"

"I promise," Sonic assured him.

"Well, okay." Tails perked up. "Whatcha gonna buy with it, Sonic?"

"I'm not buying anything with it, squirt. I'm going to open a bank account with it."

"What's a bank account?"

Sonic winked. "Watch and learn, lil bro."

There wasn't much to watch, in Tails' opinion, and even less to learn. All that happened was Sonic walked into a boring building and spoke to a boring hippo about a boring thing called a _pers'nal count_ and Sonic filled in a lot of boring forms and answered a lot of boring questions and by the end of it Tails was fidgeting so much he was almost giving himself friction burns.

Eventually, just when Tails thought he was about to scream in boredom, Sonic stood up with a broad grin on his face.

"That's great, then. Thanks for your help."

"Are we _done_ yet?" Tails demanded. "'Cause I wanna go play in the water park an' you said we could go once you'd finished all your chores."

Sonic laughed. "Yeah, we're done here. I just got one more place to go to, and then we'll hit that water park for the rest of the day, squirt."

"Is it gonna be as boring as this one?"

Suddenly in a good mood, although he didn't fully know why yet, Sonic scooped the little fox up into his arms and tickled him hard.

"Nowhere near, lil bro!" He settled Tails into a more secure hold and then winked. "Hold on tight. Next stop, Offerings Publishing House and Manufacturers."

Tails yipped with delight as Sonic broke into a run that got faster and faster until the city blurred around them followed by a stop (with appropriate screeching noises) that lasted a full hundred yards.

Putting on his best female voice, Sonic said, "We would like to thank you for choosing Hedgehog Transport today. Please avoid the feet and way cool sneakers when disembarking and we hope you'll choose to travel with us again soon."

Tails giggled. "You're real funny, Sonic." He still wasn't sure why Sonic was so happy, but still, if Sonic was happy then Tails was ecstatic.

Sonic pushed open the doors to the publishing house and stepped in. He was impressed with the décor – the mahogany furniture, plush red carpet and chandeliers all pointed to extreme money – but only mildly.

_After all, unless I miss my guess, most of the money that paid for this stuff should have been mine, at least partly._

Striding up to the receptionist – an elderly hamster who seemed more interested in his copy of _101 Fun and Exciting Cheese Recipes_ than the public – Sonic smiled broadly and said, "Hi."

The hamster looked up, saw the hedgehog and said, "Oh—"

Much to his disappointment, Tails didn't hear the exact word that followed since Sonic had clamped both hands over the little fox's ears, and the next thing he heard was the hedgehog saying, "C'mon pal, I got a four year old kid here."

"Five!" Tails said indignantly.

"Right, five. Sorry kiddo." Sonic returned his attention to the hamster. "I guess you know what I'm here to talk about."

The hamster swallowed. "Any complaints must be taken up in writing through a form filled out in triplicate and mailed to the appropriate department. If you care to wait I can give you the addresses—"

"I'm in something of a rush," Sonic said pleasantly. Wandering behind the desk, apparently aimlessly, he opened the door marked AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY and walked through, the hamster trailing behind him like a noisy and ineffective shadow.

"I see the latest issue is already being worked on," Sonic remarked chattily as he saw the pieces of paper lying scattered on the nearest desk. Half interested, he picked up a few pages at random, then froze as he read one.

"Who came up with this story?" he demanded.

The hamster shrugged. "All our stories are co-written by several highly qualified authors and—"

"_Who wrote this one_?" Sonic all but screamed at him, screamed so loudly that an office worker in the building over the road looked up.

The hamster jerked back as though someone had kicked him, then said in a strained voice, "Mr Sonic, if I could ask you to moderate your voice—"

"I'll worry about my voice, pal! Tell me who wrote this story!" Sonic wasn't screaming now, mainly because his voice wouldn't take it, but he _was_ speaking much louder than normal.

The hamster wilted in his seat. "Mr Sonic, _please_. I just work on reception. I don't _know_ who does what here, and sometimes we hire freelance writers to meet demand."

He was most likely telling the truth, Sonic realised, and sighed. "Look—what's your name?"

"Cheeks."

Next to Sonic, Tails giggled. "That's a funny name."

"Tails, don't be cheeky," Sonic admonished, only realising his poor choice of words when Tails broke up into giggles again.

The opposite door clicked open and a raccoon came through, his entire bearing practically _screaming_ his directorial status.

"Is there a problem, Cheeks?"

Stepping in front of the hamster, Sonic smiled broadly at the director's expression and said pleasantly, "What do _you_ think?" The smile vanished as he threw the papers down at the raccoon's feet. "When's this story going to be published?"

In the pseudo-respectful tones of one who can see his paycheck and annual holiday aboard a luxury liner vanishing if he doesn't talk fast, the director said, "It's going to press as we speak."

"Cancel it."

The raccoon stared at him, jaw slack. "What?"

"You heard me," Sonic shot back, no longer smiling. "At the risk of sounding incredibly cliché, stop the press."

The other sighed. "Mr Sonic, it's not as simple as that. There are people waiting on this, people waiting to read your latest exploits—"

"Whose exploits?" Sonic said, his voice now dangerous. "I don't remember doing any of this."

The raccoon folded his arms. "Mr Sonic, apart from the cancellation of one of the most long-awaited issues since this series began, what exactly do you want?"

"I want what anyone in my position would want," Sonic said flatly. "First, royalties, twenty percent on domestic sales and thirty five on external, ie, all sales outside Westside Island. Second, a back payment of all those royalties I've not yet received."

"_Twenty percent on domestic_?" It was a ridiculously high commission, was, in fact, ridiculously high for external sales.

"If you hadn't done this behind my back, we could have negotiated," Sonic said coldly. "You should have talked to me before doing something like this."

The raccoon squirmed. "We were going to, but we couldn't contact you or find out your account details."

Since this could never really be proved or disproved, Sonic shrugged. "Well, I'm here now." He grabbed a pencil and started scribbling on the back of the nearest page, writing down his bank details. "I want a back payment to be made into this account, a cheque for seven hundred and thirty two Mobiums to be sent express delivery to the manager of the Velvet Hotel in Casino Night Zone – I'll give you a note to put in as well so he knows it's from me – the royalties on any future merchandise and most importantly, you print an article now and a disclaimer on every future comic and item saying that everything that comes out of here is total fiction. Including that damn biography!" Sonic held out the details to the director, who took them with the very tips of his fingers, as though it was poison. "You've taken everything that happened on Green Island, you've cheapened it and now you're just selling it to make yourselves a quick Mobium…and one more thing. If you print any more stories about my being responsible for Robotnik's presence, no matter how I did it, you can kiss the rights to any future Sonic merchandise goodbye, not to mention your own ass. Slander me in any other way you want, but not like that. You got it? Good," Sonic added without waiting for a reply. "Now give me what you owe me and I'll be out your face."

"Here." Pulling out his chequebook, the director wrote out one of the cheques and handed it to Sonic, who glanced at it and froze.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand?" Something inside him told him the truth and he raised an eye ridge. "That hardly seems right."

"It's all we can afford at the minute." Now the director sounded distinctly sulky.

"Fine." Sonic tucked the cheque away. "I'll take it and we'll say no more about the rest of the back payments you probably owe me, but in that case I want forty percent on external sales and twenty five on domestic. Okay?"

Judging from the raccoon's face, it was far from okay, but Sonic grinned broadly and said, "Cool," before the other had a chance to protest, then took Tails firmly by the hand and walked out of the publishing house with him, royalty cheque firmly in his hand.

"How much'd they pay you again?" Tails wanted to know.

"A quarter of a million." Despite his words back in the building, the thought of that sum still made Sonic's head spin.

"Is that more'n a hundred Mobiums, Sonic?"

"Yeah, lil bro, it's a lot more. If I had four of those cheques, I'd have a million Mobiums."

"A _million_!" Tails barely breathed the words; he couldn't imagine such wealth.

Fair enough; neither could Sonic. The hedgehog was still struggling to come to terms with it and paying more attention to the cheque in his hand than where he was going, as became apparent when he collided with someone.

"Ow! Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't—" Sonic broke off, startled. "Mighty?"

"Sonic?" The armadillo rubbed his skull – Sonic really had walked into him hard – and fixed the hedgehog with a look that, while not hostile, wasn't the friendliest expression Sonic had ever seen either. "What are you doing here?"

"We were jus' getting Sonic's royalty cheque from Offings Pubbing House an' Mannyfaxes!" Tails piped up.

"Royalty cheque?" Mighty stared at Sonic with a mixture of loathing and disgust. "You're unbelievable."

Too young to pick up on the hostile nuances in the armadillo's voice, Tails said, "He sure is! He's Sonic the hedgehog an' the coolest guy in the whole wide _world_!"

Mighty glanced at Tails and smiled at him briefly, then looked back at Sonic. When he next spoke, his voice was quiet and so angry that even Tails had no trouble picking up on it.

"Is that why you wanted me to help you save this little kid, Sonic? Just so he can follow you around and worship you? Does he know—"

Sonic backhanded him, the blow hard enough to send the armadillo staggering. Next to him, Tails yipped in alarm, glancing from one to the other as Mighty half turned. From his body language, it was clear he wasn't going to strike back, but he also wasn't happy. Seeing the armadillo's split lip, Sonic brought one hand up to his own, touching the place where Mighty had struck him back in Green Hill Zone, smiling grimly.

"Now we're even."

"Yeah, an' you better not hit Sonic back!" Tails said belligerently, rushing to stand between the two antagonists.

Mighty wiped blood off his lip with the back of his hand and spat more onto the sidewalk. "Using a four year old as a shield?"

"Five!"

Mighty continued, taking no notice of Tails. "That's low, Sonic, even for you." He shook his head. "Don't think I haven't seen all the merchandise; Sonic toys, Sonic keyrings, Sonic books, Sonic games...must be one big ego trip for you, huh?"

"Do _you_ buy any a that Sonic stuff, mister?" Tails asked.

Mighty curled his lip. "I got better things to spend my money on. Like touring a sewer."

"Good!" When the armadillo shot him a startled look, Tails said, "'Cause Sonic hates being in all that stuff. He on'y went in there to tell 'em that they weren't getting it right an' were selling it too cheaply!"

"Tails, I didn't!" Sonic stared at Mighty, willing the armadillo to believe him. "I said they were cheapening what happened on Green Island and selling it to make themselves a quick Mobium."

"That's what I said," Tails protested. "They made it cheap an' now they're selling it! On'y Sonic got real mad an' stopped 'em making a story an' said they weren't 'llowed to sell stories which told about him making Robotnik!"

"Really?" Mighty narrowed his eyes. "So if someone asks you where Robotnik came from, Sonic, what are you planning to tell them?"

Sonic raised his head and stared the armadillo straight in the face.

"That it was an accident." He spoke quietly but with enough force to silence the retort already forming on Mighty's lips. "Everything that happened to unleash Robotnik was an accident. Nothing more."

Mighty snorted. "Is that the excuse you're giving people now?"

"Yes it damn well is! It's the truth! I wasn't responsible for Robotnik deciding to take over the world! He thought of that on his own and it was all I could do to stop him!"

"Oh really?" Mighty said again. "If you're such a bigshot hero, why didn't you save my family? Why didn't you stop Robotnik taking them?"

Sonic met the armadillo's diamond stare with one of his own. "Why didn't _you_?"

The diamond shattered and Mighty looked away without answering.

"And if _you_ hated him so much, why didn't you come with me?" Sonic demanded, his temper rising. "I expected the others to go back to their lives, but you..." He shook his head. "Damn, Mighty, we were like _brothers_!"

"He's your brother?" Tails said. Squinting at the armadillo, he added, "You don't look like a hedgehog, mister. Did ol' Robotnik chop your spikes off?"

"You haven't answered my question," Mighty said to Sonic. "Why did you really save this kid? Because if all you want is a little sycophant, then the kid would have been better off where he was."

"You slammed me into the ground because I was gonna leave Tails behind and now you're on my case because I _didn't_?" Sonic folded his arms. "Jeez, Might, would it be too much to ask if you could make up your mind?"

"Sonic saved me," Tails put in. "He was real nice an' he fed me an' bought me my bestest most favouritest pair of sneakers _ever_! See?" He lifted one red and white shod foot for inspection, wobbling crazily on his one leg.

"Sonic only has you along because you feed his ego," Mighty said. This was no spite or malice on his part; he did genuinely believe what he was saying.

"He doesn't _have _a neego!" Tails shouted. "He's the coolest—"

"—guy in the whole wide world, yeah, you told me."

"Exactly! An' I'm not gonna let you be mean to him, not after he helped me an' ev'ryone else!" Tails launched himself at the armadillo, small fists flying.

Without looking, Mighty put one hand on Tails' head and stepped away, holding the little fox off with almost no effort while Tails did his best to resume his attack.

"All this adulation, Sonic…" Mighty gestured with his free hand to where a shop was selling life size Sonic cutouts (and that had freaked the hedgehog out big time when he'd first come face to face with one in that store). "You must really love it."

"Yeah, well, that's all _you_ know!" Tails shouted. "Sonic hated my comic an' Sonic toy so much I had to smash 'em! It was the on'y toy I had but he still got me to smash it!"

"I didn't!" Sonic protested, then fixed Tails with a glare. "Squirt, _shut up_ for five minutes, okay? Let _me_ talk to Mighty."

"I shouldn't bother, Sonic," Mighty said coldly. "There's nothing you can have to say to me, and there's damn well nothing I've got to say to _you_."

Sonic closed his eyes and pulled out one of the small, individual pella pies the residents from Oil Ocean had given him, handing it to Tails. "Tails, take this and go eat it by that tree over there, okay?"

"Okay!" Tails grabbed this unexpected treat and bolted with it before Sonic had a chance to change his mind.

"Right." Sonic stared hard at Mighty. "I never, _ever_ told Tails to throw his comic away or smash his toy. He did that on his own. I did rip up his comic, I'll admit to that – though I'm not proud of it – and he thought that if having to read it or see him play with his super cool Sonic fighter ship made me unhappy, then if he got rid of them I'd be happy again."

"Save it, Sonic." The armadillo shook his head. "My family are _dead_ because of your so-called accident, and nothing you say is going to make that alright again!"

"They were my family too, Might," Sonic said quietly. "You think I'm _proud_ of what happened?"

"I think it hasn't taken you long to cash in on it."

"And what else am I supposed to feed Tails on? Air?" Sonic folded his arms. "Forget it. I can't think why I ever expected you to understand."

"Oh, I understand just fine, Sonic," Mighty said, his voice now dangerously quiet. "I understand that you screwed up big time, you as good as _murdered_ my family and now you're taking royalties on the media hype about it all! What I _don't_ understand is how you could do something like that after all we've been through."

"And just what _have_ we been through?" Sonic answered, his silky tones matching Mighty's perfectly. "Say what you like about Robotnik; if I hadn't stopped him he'd have wiped out everyone, you included! But I did it alone, Mighty, because nobody, not even my so-called _best friend_ could be bothered to help me!"

Without waiting for a reply, he turned and stalked over to where Tails was watching the proceedings anxiously.

"C'mon squirt, let's go. We have to find somewhere to stay tonight."

"What 'bout our home?"

"Our home's going, kiddo. The agent phoned me while you were still asleep and told me he had someone who wanted to rent. We only stay in places while nobody needs them, you know that."

"Bu-but—" Tails' eyes were huge— "but what 'bout my toys, Sonic? If I'da known we were gonna move, I'da brought 'em with me. Can't we go an' get them? Please? I don't wanna lose more toys 'cause of someone moving into my home."

"Course we can, lil bro." Sonic squeezed Tails' shoulders. The little fox didn't have much in the way of toys – he had a tennis ball and, most importantly to him, a screwdriver so he could examine anything mechanical that took his fancy – but he did love the ones he had. The screwdriver in particular was his pride and joy; he had it on him somewhere.

"Okay!" Perking up again, Tails pointed. "Can we stay _there_?"

Sonic followed the little fox's finger and snorted. 'There' was a hotel, one of the most exclusive in the Zone and the one which also had direct access to the water park Sonic had promised to take Tails to.

Still, at least this way they'd both be happy. Tails could have the park and Sonic could have…could have…well, he thought there must be some kind of activity which didn't involve H2O.

"C'mon then," he said aloud to Tails, who yipped with delight and led the way into the hotel reception, which was deserted.

"Ooh, look!" Excited, Tails flew over to the wall. "I never seen one of these before!"

"Yeah," Sonic said distractedly. The only thing that got Tails that excited (apart from a big meal or a trip to the movies) was something electrical, and therefore something not interesting to the hedgehog, although he had to admit he did find it fascinating to watch Tails work on some of these things.

Then he suddenly remembered what happened to electrical objects that Tails had never seen before and whirled. "Tails—"

Too late. The object in question now lay in chips around the little fox's feet, and he was still burrowing into it eagerly.

Turning back, Sonic came face to face with a sparrow and forced a grin. "Hi. I was wondering if you had a spare room?"

"We do indeed." The sparrow called up a list on his computer, tapped a few keys and then looked back at Sonic. "That will be twenty Mobiums for the night and seventy nine and a half Mobiums for the CCTV camera."

"I c'n fix it," Tails offered, holding up his screwdriver as evidence.

"No, kiddo," Sonic said with a sigh as he handed over five twenty Mobium notes and took the keycard with a thankyou. "C'mon lil bro, let's go check out our room."

Aware that he'd messed up again, Tails padded after the hedgehog despondently, stopping outside as Sonic inserted the keycard and opened the door.

"Uh." Tails squirmed. "I think I'm gonna go play in the water park, Sonic; they got a real good wave machine an'—"

"Inside," Sonic ordered, pointing.

"Or mebbe I could ride the slides—"

"Inside."

"Though the whirlpool looks pretty cool too, so—"

"_Inside_."

With a singularly martyred expression, Tails obeyed as Sonic followed him in, shut the door, turned around and held out his hand.

"The screwdriver, Tails."

Tails squirmed. "But Sonic—"

"_Now_."

The little fox hesitated. "But it's the on'y one I got an'...an' I promise not to do anything bad with it but please can't I keep it?"

"I'm not going to throw it away, squirt. But if you want to take something apart, you gotta ask me first, okay?"

Tails looked down at his beloved screwdriver, then up at Sonic again. "You promise you're not gonna throw it away?"

"I promise."

"I really _coulda_ put the cam'ra thing back together."

"I know you could, kiddo, but other people don't know how good you are at building things. Give me the screwdriver, please."

With an expression that suggested he was tearing out his very soul, Tails placed the tool in Sonic's outstretched hand, ears flat.

"Thankyou." Sonic tucked it into his bag, then ruffled the fur between Tails' ears. "Don't look so sad, lil bro."

"You'd look sad if someone took away _your_ on'y screwdriver, Sonic."

"I'm not taking it away; I'm looking after it for you to stop it getting damaged and to stop you using it to cost me any more money."

Tails giggled. "But you got _loadsa_ money, Sonic, 'member?"

"Yeah, but I won't if you keep costing me, will I?" Sonic winked at him.

Tails' face cleared. "Oh yeah. Hey Sonic, c'n we go play in the pool now?"

"You can. I'm not getting within fifty feet of that water, Tails, you know that."

"Okay!" Tails grabbed Sonic's hand and pulled him downstairs and over to a sun lounger. "You c'n stay right here!" He hesitated. "Though...mebbe you wanna swimming lesson, huh?" He looked up hopefully.

Sonic shook his head. "No thanks. I'm fine on dry land."

"It's real cool, Sonic."

"No, Tails."

Tails subsided. He _knew_ Sonic would love the water when he got into it and went down slides and started playing and stuff, but he'd never quite forgotten Sonic's reaction in Aquatic Ruin Zone when he'd tried to get the hedgehog to swim with him.

Still, there was nothing to worry about right now…Sonic had whumped ol' Robotnik again and Tails had helped! Boy, he just wished the mean kids in Emerald Hill Zone knew _that_!

In the meantime, however, there was water to play in, and that was all that mattered to the little fox. Robotnik was well and truly whumped and he wasn't gonna come back to Westside Island, not _never_!

Tails lay back in the water, floating on his back with a smile of pure happiness. Better yet, some of the other kids in the Zone wanted to play with him! Tails' eyes drifted shut and he dreamed, wondering if he'd get to whump ol' Robotnik again and what Sonic was gonna do now.

While he was still trying to puzzle it out, he fell asleep.

**Okay...Metropolis Zone, the one I was most looking forward to and dreading at the same time :P It also beats Hill Top Zone by another four pages…given then length of the Zone in the game, I guess that's not surprising ;) **

**Forestalling potential remarks, I'd like to point out that I was going to include the part where Sonic leaps over a lake of lava from spear block to spear block, but you know what? In all my times of playing Metropolis (over and over trying to get it for this chapter, thank Sega and the Emeralds for Level Select codes ;)) I've only ever found that part once and no matter where I went or how much I explored I always found the end of the level before I found the lake of fire :( Sorry guys. I basically just played the whole Zone through one morning and took notes on everything else I saw and what happened and turned it into this chapter :P Including Tails sinking that block...**

**This one turned out so long I did wonder whether or not to post it as two separate chapters (so much so that I even wrote the Metropolis Zone separately to the rest of it) but I think it's okay like this :) Sky Chase will be along very shortly :D**


	15. Sky Chase Zone

**Awdures: Thanks :D And YES! 200 reviews! (is dazed)**

**D.C.111: Thanks, glad you liked it. Heh, long is right; I've entered the 'gotta finish' mentality that always grips me towards the end of a story, so I was working for two days solid on that chapter :P As for Mighty...I'm sure he'll realise the truth about Sonic soon ;)**

**MilesTAiLSPrower-007: Thanks, glad you like it so far :D**

**Hawk's Soul: (goes red) Thanks :D I have a tendency to extend chapters for a story that's really going well...put it this way, if any of the 'Zone' chapters here is under 10 A4 pages, I wonder why ;) And ooh, cousins! One of my cousins has just set up an account here...I keep waiting for her to write something :P**

**TigerOfTheSpear: (goes redder) Wow, thanks :D I will update as soon as I can (I try to get at least one update a week...not always this fic, but still, it's an update :P)**

**DragonUk: (innocent look) Well, I didn't _tell_ you to read this instead of doing homework (and if your teacher gets mad, don't blame me okay:P) (eats cookie) You know me too well ;) Bribery...yup, it'll get you an update ;) Now I've finished the mountain (aka Metropolis Zone) it's downhill all the way. I hope.**

**Maverick87: Thanks :D There was going to be a Tails/Mighty part towards the end of the chapter, but I cut it; it didn't fit in right. As for Espio...I've been kicking around the idea of adapting Knuckles Chaotix...whether I do it as a separate story or part of Espio's backstory, I haven't decided yet :S**

**Reko Reborn: Heh, thanks. Confusing sentences...actually, I can well believe it. I was a little punch drunk on occasions when writing this ;) And I will keep working on SEGA, never fear :P I aim to get in on the ground floor and join Sonic Team :D**

**Az the Dragon: Yep, it's out! Super Sonic...he will turn up, I promise you, and you'll see how he's done. I don't follow one Sonic universe religiously; I pick and choose the bits I like, so there's no knowing whether he'll be a maniac or not ;) Well, _I_ know, but only 'cause I've already written it (reads Super Sonic part...hmm...yep, think it'll work) ;)**

**Poridet: Thanks. As to the Tornado…read on ;)**

**Professor Vengeance: That's okay, I don't mind people repeating themselves ;) At least then I know they're still reading and enjoying it. And thanks**

**Private somebody: Thanks. Me, I actually love Metropolis Zone; I found it easier to wait for the mantis to turn its back and then sneak up behind them and pounce _a la_ Tails ;)**

**TrueVulcanRaven: Thanks, I'll try :D**

**Sonic-Addict: Makes you wonder, doesn't it ;) I had heard that the original Sega mascot was going to be an armadillo from somewhere but I wasn't sure how true it was :P Glad they went with the hedgehog idea...**

**Shadow-spawn180: Well…I think I cleared up the grammar point in the PM :P As for the rest of it…(blushes) Thanks :D**

**A Tails Fan: Thanks; glad you're enjoying it :D And I'll do my best :)**

**Matt Lans: Ah, but who's to say they DIDN'T turn into mini-Robotniks? Maybe Sonic was just too busy trying to dodge them to notice ;) As for Sonic and Mighty patching things up between them…you'll find out about that at the end of the story ;)**

**Asher Tye: Yeah, poor Sonic :P I feel kinda sorry for him sometimes…**

**Lewisty: Thanks :)**

**Milette Tails Prower: (happy smile) Glad to hear it :D**

**MadCat: Thanks :D No, I didn't get the idea of a falling star from the _Sonic 2_ startup screen…to be honest, I'd never really noticed it :S**

**Gameorama91: Thanks :) Sky Chase…heh, it's the one I was looking forward to doing the most, purely because I get a chapter off from doing a boss scene :D**

**TC Chan: Yeah, I guess that's true...I did mention the star bot at the very beginning (and meant to include it) but had to cut it in the end…I thought the mantis ones were worse. Then again I did cut most of my notes on Metropolis Zone by about 90 percent, else the chapter would probably have turned out to be almost as long as the rest of the story put together :)**

For Tails, the next few weeks passed in a kind of happy, wondrous delirium. There was no more Robotnik, no more mean traps and best of all, people wanted to play with him! The only bad point as far as Tails was concerned was that despite his very best efforts, he still hadn't managed to change Sonic's mind about the weekly bath, which was why he was currently lying as close to the pool as he could in the hopes that Sonic wouldn't want to approach.

Sonic himself had loosened up, relaxed and was the real cool and nice hedgehog Tails always thought he should be. It wasn't until they'd whumped ol' Robotnik and driven him away for good that the little fox had realised how tense Sonic had really been, how on edge.

"Gotcha!" Sonic seized Tails around the waist, rolled him over and proceeded to tickle both the fox's bare feet until Tails was squealing with laughter.

"C'mon squirt," Sonic said lightly. "Bath time for lil bros."

"Don't _wanna_ bath! Wanna go play in the bubbly thing!"

"The jacuzzi, kiddo, and no. You've played here enough for one day. C'mon, let's go back to our room, huh?"

"Yeah! An' no bath, right Sonic?"

Sonic grinned broadly. For all Tails' faults, he had to admit the little fox never gave up.

"Yeah, bath. You smell like chlorine."

Tails frowned. "But I don't know anyone called Coreen, Sonic."

The hedgehog laughed. "Oh, you don't, huh?"

"Nuh uh! So I can't smell like her an' so I don't gotta have a bath, right?"

"Nice try. C'mon." Sonic hoisted Tails into his arms and broke into a run.

The bath proceeded mostly without incident (unless you counted Tails' spinning both namesakes in the water and drenching both Sonic and every available surface) and in relative silence which lasted until Sonic was about to towel the little fox off.

Wriggling away, leaving wet footprints in his wake, Tails fixed Sonic with a big-eyed look. "You don't really wanna towel me, huh Sonic?"

"No, I don't," Sonic answered and then, as Tails yipped in delight and scampered for the door, scooped the little fox up under his arm and rubbed his tummy vigorously with the towel. "But I'm gonna."

Trying unsuccessfully to squirm free, Tails glared up at the hedgehog. "How come I always gotta be dried? Why can't I jus' shake myself dry an' drip?"

Depositing him on the ground again, Sonic hesitated. "Well...I didn't wanna bring this up, lil bro, but wet canines don't smell so good."

"That's _your_ fault, Sonic." Secure in the knowledge of his own self-righteousness, Tails folded his arms and stuck his little snout in the air. "You make me have baths an' so it's _your_ fault if I'm stinky after!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Tails, I know that if you had your way you'd never get in a bath again, but you don't have a choice, kiddo."

"Hmph!" Tails shut his eyes in an effort to simulate disdain, only realising his mistake when Sonic pounced on him, lifted him up and zoomed him through the air, tossing him lightly onto the bed.

"C'mon. Bedtime."

Tails opened his eyes again to glare at Sonic. "_You're_ not going to bed!"

"I'm older than you. You're five years old, kiddo, and if you go to bed any later than eight o'clock you get cranky."

Tails looked at the clock, currently telling the world that it was eight fifteen, then scowled at Sonic. "I do not!"

"Uh huh. Right." Sonic grinned and reached down to ruffle Tails' fur. "Go on, go to sleep."

"I can't sleep," Tails said, now looking perfectly serious. "You gotta tuck me in, Sonic, else I'm not gonna be able to fall 'sleep."

"You used to manage okay without me," Sonic couldn't resist pointing out.

"I jus' never slept, 'sall."

The hedgehog laughed. "Right. So you went two years without sleep, is that what you're telling me?"

"Yup! C'mon Sonic, please?"

Sonic pretended to consider, then winked. "Yeah, alright. You want blankets or tails tonight, squirt?"

"Both!"

"_Both_?" Sonic echoed, feigning shock and astonishment. "You want _both_?"

Tails nodded, beaming.

"Okay kiddo. You got it." Reaching down, Sonic caught hold of one of Tails' namesakes and pulled it over the little fox, then did the same with the other one, pausing as Tails squeezed his hand between both namesakes.

"Tails, one of your tails just ate my hand!"

Tails giggled. "No it didn't, Sonic."

"It did too, look." Sonic pretended to tug, prompting more giggles from the little fox who squeezed harder before suddenly unfurling both tails and wrapping them tightly around the hedgehog's arm. "Now it's eating the rest of me!"

"Nuh uh! 'S on'y eating if you chew an' my tails aren't chewing you, Sonic. They jus' got you so's you can't 'scape unless you _promise_ never ever to gimme a bath again! Ever!"

"Nice try. There's gotta be a weak spot somewhere." Sonic pretended to look for one, peering behind Tails' back, under his armpits and into his ears before winking. "I think I found it."

"Nuh uh!"

"Yuh huh; I think it's right about...here." Twisting the wrist Tails had grabbed around, the hedgehog tickled the little fox until Tails released him and caught hold of his arm with both hands, hooking one leg over it and pretending to gnaw the hedgehog's wrist.

"You're wrong, Sonic! That's not my weak spot, that's my secret hidden invisible button to turn me into a great big flying super-whumping fox robot thingy of _doom_!"

Sonic laughed. "Well, you know what happens to those, don't you?"

"Yeah! They go an' take over the worl' an' whump _ev'rything_!"

"Yeah, and as Sonic the hedgehog it's my job to stop things like that."

"You can't stop a great big flying super-whumping fox robot thingy of doom, Sonic," Tails pointed out, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I can if I dunk it in another bath. Water stops it from working." Sonic quirked an eye ridge at Tails. "C'mon, let's go."

"Nuh uh! I had my bath for the week!"

"_Tails_ did. I don't remember bathing a great big flying super-whumping fox robot thingy of doom, though."

"Well, you see—" Tails shielded his mouth with his hand and whispered in Sonic's ear— "I'm really Tails."

"Hmm." Sonic eyed him warily. "I dunno about that."

"I am, honest!"

"Well, if you were _really_ Tails, you'd be lying in bed by now, and since you're not..." Sonic shook his head, a mock sad expression on his face. "You gotta be someone else."

Tails flattened his ears. "I _knew_ it. You don't rek'nise me 'cause I've had too many baths, right?"

"You're a cute little fox with two tails, Tails. How could I _not_ recognise you?" Sonic jerked his head. "Go on, into bed and go to sleep."

"I can't sleep, Sonic! You gotta tuck me in first!"

"Again?" Seeing Tails' big eyes, Sonic relented. "Okay, okay. But only if you don't _un_tuck yourself until it's time to get up."

Tails frowned, a worried expression. "'Spose I gotta go to the bathroom, Sonic?"

The hedgehog rolled his eyes goodnaturedly. "Bathroom's okay, squirt. C'mon." He wrapped Tails' namesakes around the little fox's body, then cocooned him in a blanket and set him down on the bed. "How's that?"

"Great!" The little fox hesitated for a minute. "Sonic?"

"Yeah, lil bro?"

Tails squirmed and fidgeted. He knew what he _wanted_ to say to Sonic, but even after all this time he was still frightened the hedgehog would reject him.

"Sonic...if I tell you my bestest most favouritest secret in the whole wide _world_, do you promise not to laugh?"

Sonic quirked an eye ridge at him. "I thought Sparkly was your bestest most favouritest secret in the whole wide world."

"He was but I already tole you 'bout him an'...an' now I got another bestest secret." Tails wriggled forward caterpillar style, then tried (and failed) to scramble onto Sonic's lap. Grinning, the hedgehog reached down and hoisted him up, settling him.

"That better?"

Tails nodded. "Uh huh!"

"So c'mon then. What's this big secret?"

Tails opened his mouth, shut it, wriggled about a little and then stuffed his face into Sonic's stomach, overcome by shyness, and mumbled something.

"Sorry kiddo, didn't catch that. What'd you say?"

"Well…I…" The little fox took a deep breath. "IloveyouSonic."

Secret out, Tails flattened his ears bashfully and dived back into Sonic's torso, hoping the hedgehog wasn't going to laugh in his face. The _effort_ and amount of courage it had taken to say those three words...

Sonic swallowed past the lump that had appeared in his throat.

"I love you too, lil bro. You're the coolest."

He couldn't see the little fox's face, but he saw him give a happy little sigh before rolling off the hedgehog's lap and onto the bed, eyes already drooping.

Reaching out, Sonic ran a hand over Tails' fur, rubbing it as Tails curled up slightly, eyes tight shut and a happy smile on his face.

The hedgehog was halfway out the room when Tails said, "Sonic?"

Sonic paused and turned. "Yeah, lil bro?"

Tails wriggled around for a few minutes before managing to extract the Chaos Emerald Sonic had left him with for that night.

"You c'n look after this if you want. 'Cause…well, you got 'em so they should be yours, right Sonic?"

Understanding what the little fox was really saying, Sonic grinned. "Right." He took the Emerald and secured it inside his quills. "I'll take good care of it, squirt."

"Like you're gonna take good care of me, huh Sonic?" There was a slightly pleading note in Tails' voice which told the hedgehog that while the little fox trusted him enough not to want a Chaos Emerald as insurance, there was still a touch of apprehension there.

"You bet, kiddo. Now go to _sleep_. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

When Tails did wake up the next morning, he did so early, noticing that he seemed to have untucked himself at some point during the night. Well…it had been real hot, maybe Sonic would understand!

Thinking of Sonic drew Tails' attention to the other bed like a magnet, where he saw the hedgehog fast asleep. Like Tails, Sonic had kicked the blankets off himself in an effort to cool down.

"Sonic?"

"Mph?"

Tails scrambled off the bed and padded over to stand in front of the hedgehog. "Sonic, what're we gonna do today, huh?"

"_Sleep_," Sonic said in a muffled tone.

Tails giggled. "We already sleeped an' it's getting light so what we gonna do, Sonic? C'n I play in the pool again today?"

"Yeah…wha'ever…now lemme sleep…"

"But how're you s'posed to play with me when you're sleeping, Sonic?" Tails picked up the clock and yipped in alarm. "Sonic, c'mon, you gotta get up!" He shook the hedgehog hard and then, when Sonic opened bleary eyes, thrust the clock at him. "See? It's ten to five an' I gotta go to bed at eight so we gotta have dinner at six so c'_mon_ Sonic 'cause otherwise there won't be 'nough time to do _anything_!"

Sonic glared at the clock, then shifted his scowl onto Tails.

"Two words for you, kid. Twenty-four…hour…clock."

Tails frowned. "But that's three words, Sonic."

"Tails, it is ten to five in the morning and I didn't get back from the club till gone one. You wanna cut me some slack here?"

"Erm…" Tails looked around. "Well, I can try if you get me some scissors 'cause I'm not very good at cutting things with knives yet an' I've never cut slack before. What's slack, Sonic? An' how can it be ten to five in the morning when mornings don't start 'til you've had breakfast?"

Sonic groaned. "Am I gonna get _any_ sleep today?"

Tails giggled. "You don't sleep during the _day_, Sonic! C'mon, let's go play in the pool!"

"Sure…" When Sonic failed to leap up enthusiastically at the prospect, Tails took his arm and dragged the hedgehog determinedly out of bed, then caught hold of his hand and tugged him out the door, into the elevator and out to the pool where Sonic promptly dropped onto a sun lounger and fell asleep again.

It was about ten o'clock when Sonic woke up to see Tails sitting happily on his chest reading a Sonic comic.

"What…" Sonic began weakly, then looked around at the other families and shimmering blue water. "How the hell did I get _here_?"

"You came with me, 'member?" Seeing his big brother was awake, Tails folded the comic carefully and hid it under their towel so Sonic wouldn't see it and get all sad again. "I was swimming for ages, Sonic, but it's all hot an' I don't wanna swim anymore so c'n we go get breakfast? Please?"

"What? Yeah, c'mon." Getting to his feet, feeling only slightly more refreshed than he had at ten to five, Sonic yawned. "Let's get some food."

"Yeah!" Tails grabbed the hedgehog's hand and padded towards the dining room, pulling Sonic behind him.

A shadow crept over the buildings, advancing towards the hedgehog who glanced down at Tails.

"Looks like our luck's about to change. It's clouding over."

Tails looked up eagerly, then back at Sonic with a puzzled frown. "But that's not a cloud, Sonic."

Unease prickled in Sonic's mind, but he forced his voice to remain light and carefree as he said, "What is it then?"

"That." Tails pointed carefully at the sky. Sonic followed his finger, saw the huge battleship floating in the sky and paled dramatically.

"Oh—"

"_SONIC_!"

Robotnik's voice boomed out seemingly from nowhere, causing an abrupt halt to the everyday hustle and bustle. Next to Sonic, Tails flattened his ears.

"Sonic, I thought we whumped him!"

"Hush up!" Sonic ordered as Robotnik started to speak again.

"Sonic, I know you're down here and that you can hear me. Did you think I'd given up? I've been busy preparing a special reception for you on board my Wing Fortress. If you want to save your little friends down there, you'd do well to attend. You'll find me beyond Metropolis Zone."

The battleship – presumably the Wing Fortress Robotnik had mentioned – accelerated away, leaving a shocked silence in its wake. Looking around, Sonic saw with no surprise that every face was turned expectantly to him.

He frowned slightly. "Just what is beyond Metropolis Zone, anyway?"

There was a silence. Now everyone seemed determined not to look him in the eye.

"Mebbe it's on a map somewhere?" Tails suggested.

"It's not."

Sonic whirled, tense. "Mighty?"

The armadillo nodded coolly to him. "Metropolis isn't the last Zone on Westside Island."

"Then what is?" Sonic demanded.

A shrug. "I don't know. It's not marked on any map; it just shows a blank patch of land the size of Emerald Hill Zone. Swamp and mountains, mostly, according to the key. The last official exploration team to see it went in over two hundred years ago."

Sonic stared at him. "So what happened then?"

Another shrug. "People kept going, kept trying to find out. None of them ever came back. Everyone who went into that place is either gone or dead."

The hedgehog snorted. "Dramatic much?"

"Sonic c'n 'scape from _anything_!" Tails said fervently, beaming up at Sonic adoringly. "He's the coolest blue hedgehog in the whole wide _world_!"

"He's the _only_ blue hedgehog in the whole wide world," Mighty answered in a more civil tone than he'd taken to Sonic.

Tails floundered for a few seconds before saying, "Yeah, but…but if there were a million trillion billion squillion _kajillion_ blue hedgehogs in the whole wide world Sonic'd still be the coolest! An' we're gonna prove it by going into that scary place you're talking about _an'_ coming out again after we whump ol' Robotnik, right Sonic?"

Sonic glanced down at him. "You bet we are, lil bro." Returning his stare to the armadillo, he added, "Mighty?"

It was both a question and a challenge at the same time, and the armadillo shook his head. "Forget it."

"So for all your big talk about family and friendship last time we met, you're chickening out like some coward, huh?"

"Hey!"

Sonic glanced over at the indignant chicken who had protested. "Uh…sorry. No offence."

"I'm no coward," Mighty all but snarled at Sonic, his temper rising.

"Prove it!" Sonic shot back. "Do something _useful_ and help us out for once!"

"I'm not suicidal either! If you go into the next Zone, you'll never come out again! Nobody ever has and I don't think you're going to be the first!"

"Nobody's ever fought Robotnik either," Sonic said acidly. "Especially not _you_, right? No, you just sat around wallowing in self-pity and left me to get on with it!"

The armadillo's hand clenched into a fist. "You're pushing your luck, Sonic."

"Fine," Sonic snapped. "You hang out here with all your new friends – assuming you've managed to make any – and I'll go save your ass. Again," he couldn't resist adding. "C'mon Tails. Let's go."

Shooting a look at Mighty that he clearly wished was a knife, Sonic stalked away, Tails trailing behind him, and refused to say another word until they'd left Metropolis Zone and then he only spoke because he saw the outskirts of the next one and the sight made him lose all thoughts of Mighty, and very nearly his lunch.

"What _is_ this place?" he said hoarsely.

"Sonic." Tails tugged on the hedgehog's arm. "Sonic, I wanna go."

Sonic didn't answer, kept looking around at the bodies – some completely decayed to bones, others rotting and stinking – that had been pinned to the wooden pillars like some obscene butterfly collection. Others dangled from nooses made of vines that had been fastened to crude gallows, still more had been suspended in wooden cages and left to die.

"Are we gonna go after ol' Robotnik in this Zone?" Tails asked in a very small voice.

Sonic hesitated. Although he was normally against Robotnik's tendencies to massacre or roboticise everyone he came across, he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that wiping out this particular Zone could only really be classed as a public service.

Glancing around, he caught sight of a sign that was so overgrown with vines it was almost unrecognisable. Frowning slightly, Sonic stepped back and craned his head up. There were words underneath, he could make out that much, but the vines were too thick to be able to read them.

"Tails, fly me up to that sign, okay?"

Tails shifted. "I don't like it here, Sonic. It's scary. I wanna go back."

"We'll go back as soon as I've had a look at that sign, kiddo. C'mon."

Reluctantly, Tails lifted Sonic into the air, quivering so much that the hedgehog was experiencing turbulence. Hanging on tightly, the little fox kept hold of him long enough for Sonic to clear the vines away from the sign, frowning slightly.

"Genocide City Zone? What the...?"

Tails yipped in alarm and almost dropped him. "I heard stories 'bout this place, Sonic! Ev'ryone who's tried to come...they gave 'em radios an' phones an' ev'rything an' they all died but nobody knows how."

"Really?"

A vigorous nod. "Uh huh. An' they all screamed something 'bout how they were falling an' it was all blue but nobody knows what happened."

"Blue?" Sonic frowned. "What was blue?"

Tails flattened his ears and pointed, almost dropping Sonic in the process. "I think that mebbe they were talking about that, Sonic."

The hedgehog's head snapped around to see what looked like thick blue smoke coming towards them fast. It was completely opaque, and seemed almost to glow against the muddy browns and greens of the landscape.

Blue smoke...Sonic stared at it, instincts warring with curiosity. What was causing it? Was it deliberate?

He'd only just made up his mind to go and investigate further when Tails' nerve snapped and the little fox turned around and flew away as fast as his namesakes could take him, not stopping until they'd reached the park in Metropolis where he dumped Sonic unceremoniously on his behind and sat down next to him on a bench.

"That was a real mean trap of Robotnik's, huh Sonic?"

Sonic shook his head. "It wasn't Robotnik who did that, Tails."

"It's gotta be! He always does mean stuff like that!"

"No, it..." The hedgehog hesitated, on the verge of telling Tails the truth about the doctor, then backed down. "I can't explain, Tails, you're just gonna have to trust me. Robotnik would say he had better things to do with his time than stuff like that."

"Sonic, we're not gonna go through there, are we? Say we're not gonna go through there, Sonic."

"No. No, kiddo, we're not. We'll take the Tornado and fly over it, okay?"

Tails hesitated. "Sonic…I don't wanna go whump ol' Robotnik anymore. I wanna stay here 'cause we almost got whumped last time an' I don't wanna be almost whumped, Sonic."

Sonic raised his eye ridges. "Alright lil bro. If you wanna stay in Metropolis Zone, that's okay. It's a shame though," he added, studiously casual, "since I was kinda hoping you'd fly the Tornado for me."

Tails' jaw dropped. "_Me_?" His chest inflated so much it almost lifted him off the ground. "Sure! C'mon!" Grabbing Sonic, he raced off down the streets until they reached the outskirts where Sonic had landed the Tornado after fetching it from Emerald Hill Zone a week or so back.

Clambering into the pilot's seat, Tails glanced up at the flying fortress pensively.

"I wonder if he's making more baby Robotniks."

"Tails, I'm not sure if starting a family is—what do you mean, _more_?" Sonic interrupted himself.

"I mean like those baby Robotniks he threw at you back in the fact'ry an' when they hit the ground they went POOM!" Sonic ducked just in time as Tails flung his arms out dramatically.

"Tails, those were bombs."

The little fox nodded readily. "Uh huh, an' when he threw 'em at you they turned into little baby Robotniks! They looked jus' like him, Sonic. Least, how he always looks in that big round hovercar thingy. Sonic, when you kill him, can I have that to play with?"

Sonic stared at him. "Tails, I'm not going to _kill_ him!" He was genuinely shocked by the idea; although he'd made various death threats when fighting Robotnik, he'd never had any intention of carrying them out. His plan centred more around getting the doctor arrested and imprisoned than actual death.

Jumping onto the Tornado's wings – he didn't feel especially safe up there but if he sat in the passenger seat Tails couldn't see round him – he hung on as Tails took off. Sonic had finally given into Tails' pleading one afternoon and taught the little fox how to fly, and he had to admit that Tails had proved to be a better pilot than Sonic himself was. Certainly mountains and trees never seemed to jump out at the little fox like they did at Sonic.

Glancing up at the Wing Fortress, Sonic shook his head. Had he _really_ been so naïve as to expect Robotnik to have given up? How stupid could you _get_?

As they drew nearer the battleship, a fleet of robots dived for the Tornado, jerking Sonic out of his self-recriminations. These ones reminded Sonic strongly of his attempts to make paper aeroplanes as a kid (a skill he'd never been able to master). Although constructed out of what looked like red metal, they had the stumpy wings and somewhat bent nose that Sonic's paper crafts had been famous for.

Jumping neatly onto the leader, Sonic bounded rapidly from one to the next to the next, destroying them as he went before landing neatly on the Tornado again.

"Wow!" Tails shouted above the hum of the engine and the roar of the wind. "You're getting real good at that, huh Sonic? That's gotta be a thousand points!"

Sonic grinned back. "You say so, lil bro!"

Tails had recently come up with a points system for the number of bots whumped by either of them, and he couldn't be more pleased with himself. It was one hundred for one bot and it increased if Sonic jumped from that one bot to the next without returning to the Tornado. Sonic himself hadn't got a clue how Tails was working it out or _how_ the points increased, but if the little fox was happy, he guessed that was the main thing.

What looked like three giant turtles drifted gently towards him, smaller turtles on their backs. It would have been cute if the smaller ones weren't manning (_or_ _turtling_, Sonic thought wryly, a slight grin on his face) what looked like bazookas. Even as he watched, the closest one opened fire and Tails barely managed to swerve out the way in time.

Sonic glanced down at the little fox. "Hang back, lil bro! I'll deal with these!"

"Okay!" Tails turned the plane just as Sonic leapt, landing squarely on the smaller turtle and putting it out of commission. To the hedgehog's surprise, the bigger turtle seemed quite content to bear his weight and he found himself drifting along with it.

It reminded him a little of a tableback turtle, a huge, placid animal that – unlike a lot of its smaller relatives – travelled in a group and for some reason, never ever submerged completely. Tablebacks also had shells that were flat on top, hence the name. Once upon a time, Mobians had tried building houses there and living in little floating villages, until the tableback mating season had put something of a stop to that idea. The foundations still remained – it wasn't unusual to see a pod carrying blocks, grass and the remains of small fences on their backs – but very few people wanted to move back there.

_Probably where Robotnik got the idea_, Sonic thought flatly. After all, why else would someone pick a turtle as a combat model? Turtles weren't exactly renowned for their ferocity, at least, not as far as he knew.

"_Sonic_!" Tails yelped from the plane.

The hedgehog snapped back to reality and jumped back to the Tornado, hanging on as the little fox swerved around the other turtle bots and kept going.

"Hey, look!" Tails pointed. "Do you see _that_, Sonic?"

Since the object in question was Robotnik's fortress, and since it was at least a mile long and half a mile wide, Sonic didn't see how he could have missed it.

"Are we gonna go land on it?" Tails wanted to know, eyes gleaming eagerly.

"Not yet. Circle round; I want to make sure there's nothing waiting on the other side for us."

Tails banked obediently and so steeply Sonic almost slid off. Indirectly, this proved to be a good thing as the bomb dropped by what Tails was persistently calling the 'baby turtle Robotnik real ugly bots' missed him by a fraction of an inch and plummeted instead towards Mobius. Swearing, Sonic attacked, kicking it clean out of the sky.

No matter where Sonic leapt or where he landed, Tails was always there to catch him. Seemed like the little fox's mechanical genius also extended to piloting. Sonic had lost count of how many bots he'd destroyed before they finally stopped coming after them.

"We did it!" Tails yelped at the top of his voice.

"We sure did!" Sonic studied the fortress. There was a strut there which looked more than capable of holding the Tornado and he pointed. "Think you can land on that?"

"Yup!" Tails banked the plane steeply, and Sonic leapt onto the strut with the intention of racing on ahead and dealing with any booby traps to clear the way for Tails.

There was a humming sound and panels all around the strut slid open, revealing laser cannons that were all aiming at the Tornado. Eyes wide in horror, Sonic spun.

"Tails, look out!"

Valiantly Tails attempted to swerve the plane out of the lasers' path, but it was too late. From his perch on the strut, Sonic could only watch helplessly as the deadly beams sliced through one of the wings and the biplane went down in a crazy spiral towards the Mobian surface.

**Okay, I know that strictly speaking this part should have occurred at the beginning of _Wing Fortress Zone_, but it was just too good an ending not to go here :P**


	16. Wing Fortress Zone

**Maverick87: Thanks :D As for Mighty...well, he will make one final appearance but that's all I'm saying ;)**

**Sonic-Addict: Thanks, glad you liked it :) To be honest I think it takes a lot of guts in any relationship to be the first one to say those words :P**

**Professor Vengeance: Thanks, I'll try :) Although there are only two more Zones, there will be three more chapters (I have a sort of ending thing written) And of course, there's always the continuation in _Master of the Emeralds_ (S3&K adaptation) ;)**

**Parslie: Thanks :)**

**TigerOfTheSpear: Heh...yeah, Tails does seem to come out with some cute comments, doesn't he:P And thanks; I'll do my best :)**

**TrueVulcanRaven: (evil grin) Well, I have to be true to the game, don't I? ;)**

**Gameorama91: Yeah, he sure is :D As for updates...is this soon enough for you:P**

**Matt Lans: Yeah, poor Tails (sniff) Wing Fortress...until very recently, I'd never played that level straight through (kept dying at the retracting platform bit) Thank the Emeralds for debug codes ;) As for Super Sonic...read on :P**

**Shadow-spawn180: Heh, thanks :D I loved the turtles in _Sonic Heroes_. Split chapters...no. It's going to be Sonic all the way now (as in the game) although you will find out what happened to Tails at the very end ;)**

**Lewisty: Heh, thanks :D**

**TC Chan: Thanks :D Hmm...giving Sonic a siesta on the plane...never tried that (makes mental note) And eggs-files (laughs hysterically) Oh man, I LOVE that! XD**

**Paisley: Thanks :D And here; one update as requested :P**

**Myuu-san: (blushes) Thanks :) Super Sonic...your wait is very nearly over ;)**

**Wolfie: Thanks :) And yes, I shall finish it in due course...**

**Awdures: Thanks; I try :D**

**SonicRules12: (blushes more) Wow, thanks :) Sonic and Tails' conversations...believe it or not (and speaking from personal experience) that's more or less what a four/five year old is like ;) They pick one word to mean something (in Tails' case, _nuh uh_ :P) and tend to repeat it over and over until the next word comes along. Tails' mistaking complicated words for something else actually doesn't happen nearly as much in the story as it probably would in real life; guess he's smarter than most kids his age :P Still, duly noted :)**

**D.C.111: Thanks :D As for the cliffhanger...well, all shall be resolved. In time ;)**

Sonic stared down at the rapidly dwindling speck that was the Tornado.

_Fly...c'mon kiddo, even if the plane's shot to hell, you can still fly yourself! Get out of there!_

Tails didn't. Sonic could still see the tan fur of the little pilot as he fought determinedly to regain control of the plane, and failed.

_Tails_...Sonic continued to watch the diminishing smoke trails for a few seconds before turning away abruptly. There was no way the little fox could survive a fall like that unless he leapt clear and flew...and that was assuming Tails knew what would happen when the plane hit the ground. He'd seen Sonic walk away from a crash; in his young lexicon, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume he'd do the same thing.

_Tails._ Sonic peered over the edge of the platform again, although the Tornado had long since fallen from view. _Oh kiddo, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I should never have brought you back into all this._

Dropping onto his knees, he buried his face in his hands, his grief and guilt so strong he could literally taste them. For the first time, he understood how someone in the throes of remorse could take their own life.

_He was right, Sonic. Why didn't you leave him in Metropolis Zone? You could have flown the plane yourself, and he was _happy_ there. You had no right to manipulate him back into the fight._

"I know." Sonic didn't realise he was speaking aloud and wouldn't have recognised his own hoarse, broken voice if he had.

The hedgehog didn't know how long he knelt there wrestling with his emotions, except it seemed slightly darker when he got to his feet than it had been before.

He started forward, then froze as he heard a low, almost inaudible chuckle come from all around.

_Robotnik._

Anger and hatred coupled with a lust for revenge roared through Sonic in a black tide and he got slowly to his feet, fists clenched at his side. Past history and friendships be damned; if he had the doctor in front of him now, Sonic would quite happily have taken his head off.

He shook his head, fighting to control himself. He wouldn't become like Robotnik; if (_when_) he killed the doctor, he'd do it to stop him from harming any more innocents, not out of hatred. He'd do it like...like...

_Like Tails_. The thought came unbidden to Sonic, who nodded once. Yes. Like Tails. The little fox was (_no_, Sonic corrected himself brutally, _had been_) innocent, too young to fully understand what hate and anger really meant, even if he'd had an expert's grasp of rejection and hurt. He'd just wanted to whump Robotnik because Robotnik was a bad guy and Tails was a hero's sidekick, and so that was how it had to be.

_Yeah_, Sonic thought with a slight smile. _And because he wanted to be popular enough to have somebody play with him._

His eyes burned and he looked over the edge again. There was a strong breeze and the smoke from the damaged Tornado was dissipating rapidly.

Reaching into his bag, he pulled out the crayon drawing Tails had done of him and the little fox back in Emerald Hill Zone and looked down at it. Tails had finally given in and added the second tail, but he'd made it a lot smaller than the other one in the hopes Sonic wouldn't notice it.

There was a faint hum and a hair fine laser beam flowed past Sonic to ignite the drawing, burning it to ash before the hedgehog fully realised what had happened.

The pure spite and malice of the act caused something to snap inside Sonic, who straightened up slowly, deliberately. He still had both the cards Tails had made in Casino Night Zone, but they hadn't meant nearly as much to him as that drawing.

Walking away, he headed for a shaft he could see leading into the fortress. He'd intended to keep his walk as slow as possible, mostly out of respect for Tails, but the matter was taken out of his hands when he stepped on a platform that fired itself at the wall, taking Sonic with it at a rapid pace before crashing into the gargantuan fin up ahead and dumping the hedgehog down the shaft to land hard on his backside.

_On the other hand_, Sonic thought ruefully, _Tails would probably have appreciated that more._

He continued on along the corridor, one which was surprisingly bare of hi-tech machinery, before lowering himself down another shaft and finding himself on a lower strut directly underneath the Wing Fortress.

The sound of whirring fans drew his attention to the end of the passage, where two huge circular platforms were suspended, one slightly lower and further on than the other. Two propellers underneath apparently kept the platforms in the air while one giant one in the middle spun relentlessly.

Sonic swallowed. There was no grid, nothing separating those huge blades from the air, or from him.

_One chance...I've got to land on the edge somehow; it's the only way I'll make it._

He stepped forward and rapidly discovered there was another only way as the gust of air generated by the fan surged underneath him, sending him soaring some fifteen feet into the air and over to the next fan, which sent him onto a metal ledge.

Looking around and catching sight of huge flaming jets underneath him, Sonic realised he was at the very bottom of the Wing Fortress.

_And if I want to find Robotnik, I'm going to have to get higher up somehow; I doubt he'll be this far down._

Sonic nodded slightly. It made sense; Robotnik wasn't the kind of person to issue a challenge and then skulk in the bowels of his own fortress.

Walking steadily along the strut – it was so wide that balance wasn't a problem – the hedgehog hesitated as he caught sight of a raised knob in the floor.

Cautiously, muscles tense and ready to launch him out of danger, Sonic approached it.

He'd got to within about six feet when a chicken emerged and shot at him, or at least, that's what he thought it looked like. His muscles had fired reflexively and sent him catapulting through the air to land squarely on top of it, so that when he managed to turn around and take a good look, it resembled nothing more than a pile of scrap painted red and white.

"Well, if that's all he's got to throw at us, he's going to be bitterly disappointed," Sonic remarked, then turned. "Isn't that right, lil—"

The empty strut cut him off and Sonic looked away again.

_Right. Yeah. No Tails._

Looking up, he saw another platform high above his head. He didn't know if it would bring him any closer to Robotnik, but he didn't much fancy continuing on his current level either – there was an unpleasant looking drop not very far ahead, followed by several moving platforms and the hedgehog didn't like to think of what would happen if he jumped for one of those platforms and missed.

It took him a good few tries to get up to the platform in question, and when he finally managed it (by dint of seizing the edge of the platform and hauling himself up) he was somewhat annoyed to discover that it seemed to be a dead end.

A blast of cold air hit him in the face and he reeled, one hand clamped over his mouth and nose. The stench of oil and metal – a little like Oil Ocean, only far stronger – was prevalent in the Wing Fortress, but the fans blowing it all around made it far worse.

_Fans_...

Edging forward, mindful of the drop beneath him, Sonic craned his head up to where the base of another fan was spinning. A slight smirk appeared on the hedgehog's face.

_Well, why not?_

Jumping as high as he could, hoping against hope that he hadn't just made the biggest mistake of his life, Sonic managed to catch onto the rim of the fan and clamber up. Taking a deep breath, staring at the huge blades underneath, he jumped.

It worked better than he could have hoped; the updraft from this fan sent him a full twenty feet up and Sonic seized the nearest surface and dragged himself onto it, gasping for breath. He was exceedingly athletic, but in more of a running sense than a chin-up one.

The whirring of machinery drew his attention to where another chicken bot was rapidly emerging. Rather than smash it – Sonic wanted to conserve his energy for Robotnik, and the bots weren't exactly a threat – the hedgehog turned and raced in the opposite direction, skidding to a stop as he ran out of ledge. Looking down he could see the area he'd just left and grimaced.

_Great. Now what?_

The answer came sooner than he expected; a high pitched squealing sounded from over his head and Sonic winced, covering his ears.

"What on Mobius—"

Looking up he saw them; two propellers that looked like they'd been dragged off the scrap pile, anchored to the Wing Fortress with a few bolts and a whole load of rust. As Sonic watched, they rotated again, getting a quarter of the way around before screeching to another juddering halt.

_Man, he could do with some oil on those_! The noise was already giving Sonic a headache.

He could live with that, however, since it was also giving him an idea. Like most of his ideas, the hedgehog acted on it before common sense could take control of the situation; jumping neatly onto one propeller and from there to the next, Sonic managed to leap to the platform above, realising with a slight feeling of surprise that he was nearly on the very top of the Wing Fortress.

_Robotnik can't be far now._ Sonic broke into a run, went up over a fin and destroyed the chicken bot on the other side without thinking about it, then stopped to look around.

_Now, if I were an evil genius playing a twisted game of cat and mouse, where would I be...?_

He leapt onto a higher strut in the hopes that this would help him gain a good vantage point, then caught sight of the platforms that were ascending in much the same manner as the ones back in Metropolis Zone and got a better idea. Judging his timing carefully, he hopped on one and waited patiently as it rose.

After the mantis bots in the factory, Sonic was half expecting an ambush at the top of the platform and he wasn't at all surprised to see a chicken bot waiting to shoot him as he ascended. Shaking his head – was that really all Robotnik had to throw at him? – Sonic took a short run and leapt over the plasma bullet to land squarely on the bot, destroying it.

By this point he was feeling slightly disparaging of Robotnik's efforts to dispose of him; a chicken with a mini bazooka wasn't much of a threat, not when he considered those caterpillar or mantis bots he'd taken on in Mystic Cave and Metropolis respectively. It can be the only reason why he didn't see the cannon until a plasma ball exploded practically under his feet, tossing him backwards as though he were a tennis ball.

As soon as he regained his feet, Sonic took a deep breath and shouted, "You missed!"

There was no answer – not that he'd really expected one – and the hedgehog continued back towards the cannon. It was similar to the ones he'd encountered back in Sky Base, although they'd shot four times in rapid succession, and he didn't think he'd be able to destroy it.

_But,_ Sonic thought with grim amusement as he darted past the cannon to destroy the chicken bot on the other side, _there's no reason why I can't outmanoeuvre it._

Turning around, he almost got blasted again – he hadn't been expecting the cannon to _move!_ – and instincts took over, sending him racing away and onto the first motorised platform (which he'd mentally named _spring platforms_ for their habit of firing him like a spring in a pinball machine) that he came across.

This particular spring platform not only fired him forwards, it dropped out from underneath him when he was barely halfway over the huge gap underneath. Sonic barely noticed this, however, since his own momentum was carrying him forward so far and so fast he was half worried about overshooting the Wing Fortress' ground level by a good couple of yards.

Reaching out, he managed to seize what looked like a crane's hook as he flew past. To Sonic's surprise, the hook descended even as he was still swinging on it, giving the effect of an insane pendulum.

It finally came to a halt a foot above what looked like a piece of metal scaffolding, and Sonic dropped onto the ground, releasing the hook and inadvertently sending it hurtling back up to where it had come from.

Well, there didn't seem to be many threats here. Just more and more metal ledges. A little exploration and speculative poking around soon located a corridor leading deeper into the Fortress and Sonic raced into it.

He was never quite sure what happened next. All he knew was that one minute he was on his feet and running, the next he was clinging for dear life to what looked like a giant tile after having been blasted through the air by something.

Even as he watched, the force of whatever was currently working on Sonic (and it was still working, he could feel it) ripped the tile off the Wing Fortress and sent the hedgehog spinning through the air to grab another one, more by luck than judgement.

This one didn't last long either, although Sonic had enough time to frantically pull himself up it a little – he'd caught sight of where he was heading and if he didn't gain some altitude soon he knew he'd never get there – before he and it both parted company with the wall.

The third batch of tiles brought him up to a safe height, and by the time Sonic had sailed through the opposite door, along the corridor and finally managed to stop on the very edge of the platform, whatever was propelling him along had stopped.

Glancing down, he saw two sets of descending platforms and hopped onto the closest one and from there to its neighbour, where he kept jumping up to the platform above in an effort to stop himself falling and to buy himself time to think.

_Where now_?

But he already knew the answer. He could see it for himself; platforms at least twice the size of the one he was standing on were extending from and receding into the walls at regular intervals.

_Okay. So I've got to jump from one to the other..._Sonic swallowed as he glanced down at the sheer drop. Misjudge the timing on these platforms and embarrassment would be the least of his problems.

He wished with all his heart that Tails was with him, and not just because he wouldn't have had to live with the guilt of getting the little fox killed; at least if Tails had been there Sonic would have had some insurance against falling to his death.

Sonic stared hard at the platforms. The timing seemed pretty regular; maybe this wasn't such an impossible feat after all. He could make out the opposite side beyond the seven extending and retracting platforms and swallowed again.

_Okay. Jump from one to the other across...can't be too hard. Seven platforms. Be no harder than jumping on those propellers, right?_

Yeah. Right.

Sonic took a deep breath, waited until the first platform was extended and jumped, taking off again almost immediately for the next one and from there to the next.

It was when he jumped for the fourth platform that he hit problems. Either the timing was off or – more likely – Robotnik had been watching him and had done something, but as Sonic jumped for it the fourth platform receded suddenly, leaving him scrabbling wildly in midair.

One flailing hand caught a ridge on the way down and Sonic dug his fingers in as hard as he could, fighting to hang on.

_Oh man, why couldn't I be something with claws?_

An idea struck him, one that was so crazy (albeit no crazier than some of the stuff he'd done) it just might work. Taking a deep breath, Sonic swung himself around, ramming his quills into the body of the Wing Fortress. There was a nasty squealing sound as gravity pulled them through the metal, then, amazingly, it stopped and the hedgehog was wedged firmly into the fortress by his quills.

Giddy exhilaration filled Sonic; he punched the air with a triumphant "_Yes!_" only realising his mistake when the action partially dislodged him and caused him to drop another two feet.

Gritting his teeth, the hedgehog braced both hands and his feet against the smooth sides of the Wing Fortress and started pushing himself back up, trying not to look down and failing miserably.

After several minutes, climbing got a lot harder and was accompanied by the same squeal of metal as before. Half snarling with effort, Sonic kept forcing his tired body up, kept pushing on and on until finally he caught sight of the upper ledge out the corner of his eye, noticing for the first time that the metal rungs could be used as monkey bars...if he could just get hold of them.

His first attempt cost him a pulled shoulder and six feet of altitude. His second almost dumped him back on the same platform that had receded on him in the first place. The third, however, was a success; Sonic managed to seize a rung and promptly felt his arms and shoulders scream in protest.

"Little further." Sonic gasped the words out, not knowing if he was talking to his body or himself (not that there was much difference when you thought about it logically) but needing to hear them.

Painfully, he swung forward and latched onto the next bar. There was no danger of running out of rungs; they seemed to extend for a long way over the opposite ledge. If he could just keep going that little bit further...

Another rung. Sonic remembered how he'd played on these as a kid; he'd been able to hang off them for ten minutes without feeling tired. He supposed he still could, if he hadn't just levered himself up what must have been at least twenty feet.

A third rung. The ledge seemed as far away as ever and Sonic wondered dully if Robotnik was somehow extending the rungs, keeping Sonic in the same place no matter how much the hedgehog swung forward.

Four rungs. Five. The ledge did seem to be drawing slightly closer now..._six, seven_...yes, he was definitely moving forward..._eight, nine_...one glance down at the platforms below told him that much..._ten, eleven, twelve_...damn, just how many more were there..._thirteen, fourteen, fifteen_...his entire body from the waist up was now shrieking at him..._sixteen, seventeen, eighteen_...and there was every indication that his legs were going to join in the party soon..._nineteen, twenty, twenty one_...oh dammit all to hell, he was close enough by now, surely...Sonic opened his hands and dropped.

In an ironic way, it was his exhaustion that saved him; he landed right on the very edge of the platform and if he'd still been standing, gravity might well have got the upper hand and dragged him backwards. As it was, he crashed onto the ledge, fell forward onto his face and lay there breathing rapidly, every muscle in his body feeling like water. It might have been Robotnik's, but for all that the hedgehog had never been so happy to feel solid ground under his feet. That had been close. _Too_ close as far as he was concerned.

Moving a lot more cautiously now, he saw a spring platform up ahead followed by a large gap between this platform and the next. The idea was obvious.

Perhaps a little _too_ obvious, Sonic thought grimly. He'd thought the same thing about those damn platforms, and look where it got him.

Well, there was no way he was going back. He couldn't go up and he _really_ couldn't go down, so that only left one way.

Hoping against hope that he wasn't about to follow Tails to his death, Sonic closed his eyes and stepped onto the platform.

It took several trips back and forth before Sonic realised what had happened, and a good few more before he managed to jump over the spring platform that Robotnik had set up on the opposite side facing the other direction. Collapsing to the ground, legs too weak to take him, Sonic dropped his forehead onto the cold metal strut and closed his eyes.

He had no idea how long he lay there, but nothing (and no one) came to investigate and when he got to his still shaky feet he saw that the strut up ahead was deserted.

Still leaning heavily on the railing, he went on, heading for the edge of the platform. When he got there, he found something that looked very much like a pulley, angled up invitingly to the next level.

Sonic stared at it for a long time, looking for the catch; maybe the pulley would snap when he was halfway across, or maybe stepping on it would trigger an alarm...the hedgehog wouldn't have put it past Robotnik to do either of those things.

After several minutes had passed, Sonic told himself to stop being so damn cowardly and raced up the pulley to the next strut, then whirled in preparation for any threats.

Nothing. The pulley still lay there as invitingly as ever, and there was no sign of other robots or any alarm.

Sonic considered this, then shrugged. Maybe it was just an ordinary way of getting between levels; after all, he supposed Robotnik must need an alternative mode of transport now that his Egg-O-Matic was gone.

_Not to mention he hasn't finished building this yet_.

Sonic frowned as the thought entered his mind, then nodded slightly. He was no architect or engineer, but one of the bedtime stories Tails had insisted on being read had been a children's book of construction (Sonic didn't know about Tails but it had done a great job of sending _him_ to sleep) and the hedgehog still remembered the pictures of half-finished buildings. They'd looked very much like this, even to the crane-like hooks. The metal pieces he'd been wandering around on before those damn receding platforms...yes, they'd just been the framework.

_Of course_, Sonic added mentally as he grabbed onto one of the hooks in question and got lowered to another level, _that doesn't mean it's all safe._

He raced forward and jumped for another hook. This one lifted him up and the unexpectedness of the direction took the hedgehog so much by surprise that he let go before he really meant to, dropping onto a small ledge about halfway up.

Glowering at the now descending hook as though it was personally responsible, Sonic started towards the edge with the intention of catching the hook again and riding it all the way up to the top when something caught his eye and he paused, turned.

Another spring platform. Sonic considered, then shrugged. Well, it wasn't like he'd come to any harm on them before, and it seemed to be angled (the hedgehog double-checked to make sure) towards the inside of the Wing Fortress. Tense, half ready to meet Robotnik at the end, Sonic stepped onto it.

Like the last platform, this one blasted through a corridor and dropped out from underneath Sonic, who was carried forward by his own momentum to hit the deck running. He was still going strong when something up ahead sent warning bells ringing loudly in his mind and he hit the brakes, hard.

When the object failed to blow either him or itself up – that had been Sonic's first impression; that it was some kind of explosive device – he approached it cautiously. Black all over, it looked like a very small, very shallow cannon. It seemed solid from all angles, almost as though it was just there to look good.

_This is Robotnik we're talking about, genius. Casino Night Zone notwithstanding, since when has he bothered with decoration?_

Working on the basis that if Robotnik had made it, it couldn't be anything good, Sonic leapt on top of the object, destroying it.

In fact, he not only destroyed his target but for some reason its destruction took out a large chunk of floor beneath him, sending him down a shaft into a high, wide corridor.

Sonic started to run. He didn't know what was happening but he knew one thing; Robotnik had to be close.

The doctor turned out to be even closer than he had anticipated; Sonic rounded a corner and saw him standing in front of him, one hand on what even the hedgehog could recognise as a force field generator.

It was the first time Sonic had seen Robotnik outside his Egg-O-Matic since the doctor had landed on Westside Island. Just the sight of him standing there with that smug little smirk on his face so soon after he'd sent Tails to his death enraged Sonic.

"You _bastard_." He spoke the words in a low voice that somehow made the hatred there worse and more pronounced, noting Robotnik's small jerk of surprise with a savage pleasure. "What did that poor little kid ever do to you?"

"Well, since you ask, Sonic, he destroyed quite a few of my machines and bots. I believe that score for score, he may even have beaten you this time."

"Crap." The bitterness in Sonic's voice only served to broaden Robotnik's smirk. "You didn't do it because he was a threat. The only reason you killed Tails is because you wanted to upset or make me mad." He exploded into action, and Robotnik barely managed to activate the force field in time.

"Well, guess what?" Sonic said, as though nothing had happened. "You got what you wanted. You're finished, Robotnik. It ends here, and it ends _now_."

"Very dramatic, Sonic, and somewhat over the top, but you'll notice I'm not exactly sweating." Robotnik pretended to consider. "Still, you're right about one thing; this ends now. It's time to finish you off once and for all."

Sonic narrowed his eyes. "Do they teach you cliché statements like that in evil genius school, or do you come up with them all by yourself?"

"It's a natural talent." There was a humming sound and another force field appeared behind Sonic, cutting off the hedgehog's line of escape. "Now let's get this over with. I'm tired of seeing you show up in every single Zone I visit."

"Funny, that," Sonic shot back, not missing a beat, "I was just thinking the same thing about you."

Robotnik smiled lazily. "I'm so glad we're in agreement, Sonic. It doesn't happen very often these days, does it?" The smile broadened. "You'd best get ready, hedgehog. There's no orphaned freak to airlift you out of trouble this time. My Eggsterminator will make short work of you."

"You wanna fight, doc?" Something had started happening to Sonic as soon as Robotnik mentioned Tails. He could literally _feel_ energy being forced into him, as though someone had hooked up every single nerve ending to an IV.

As Robotnik watched, the Chaos Emeralds were drawn out from behind his adversary's quills by an unseen force and started to circle the hedgehog's body, glowing brightly as Sonic rose off the floor.

There was a soundless implosion and Sonic's quills rose, turned up in a position that should have been physically impossible and flared a blinding white before he dropped lightly back to the ground again, looking like he was only lightly tethered to it. His entire body had turned a vivid, almost lemon colour and to his astonishment, Robotnik realised he was actually _afraid_.

Sonic raised his head slowly. Opening eyes that burned red, glowing like the sun, he fixed Robotnik with a ruby-hard stare.

"Let's fight," he said softly.

Robotnik pushed a button and a whirring noise came from above. Glancing up with a slight feeling of trepidation – somehow Sonic didn't think this latest development would protect him from being crushed by the ceiling – the hedgehog saw a metal object descending a foot or so before stopping. A cover slid aside in two pieces, revealing what looked like a red eye.

Sonic didn't know what made him do it. Maybe it was a side effect of the Emeralds, or the maelstrom of emotions currently whirling inside him. Whatever it was, he stepped directly underneath the eye, stared Robotnik right in the face and said unsmilingly, "Take your best shot, doc."

Robotnik obliged, pushing a button to send a laser of devastating power and heat down on the hedgehog. When the blinding light cleared, Robotnik was left staring at Sonic, who was still in exactly the same position as he had been before. Not even his gloves were singed.

"You're dead, Robotnik," Sonic said, and for the first time ever the human believed him. "You should've left Tails alone."

Robotnik gaped at him, his incredulity wholly unfeigned. "Sonic, there are literally hundreds of people dead or roboticised on Mobius right this second. I kill one orphaned cub – who, incidentally, was mounting an offensive attack on my Wing Fortress! – and you lose it with me?"

Sonic shook his head. "You wouldn't understand. Maybe you would have at one time, but that ship has sailed, doc, and I'm done swimming after it."

Robotnik smirked slightly, in control again. "Sonic, Sonic, Sonic. You wouldn't really kill me, would you? After all, we were the best of friends."

There was no flicker of hesitancy, no wavering in the hedgehog's expression as he answered, "You said it yourself, Robotnik. _Were_."

Something hit him on the head at this point and Sonic glanced up to see a wickedly spiked platform ricocheting off the walls. Looking back at Robotnik, he raised an eye ridge.

"_Really_."

Robotnik swallowed, then rallied. "Alright, so maybe my machine can't destroy you. But you don't seem able to destroy it either, and unlike you, my machine doesn't need sustenance or rest. You really believe you can keep this up forever? What's going to happen when the Chaos Emeralds run out of power, Sonic?"

Sonic smiled coolly. "Well, doc, it looks like I'm just gonna have to take you down before that happens, aren't I?"

Deliberately turning his back on Robotnik, Sonic leapt for the eye, missing it by about two feet. He could clearly jump higher in this form than in his normal one (and was this change permanent?) but not quite high enough to reach his target.

Sonic looked around, saw the spiked platform – which had now been joined by another two – saw the eye and knew what to do.

Running and jumping, he aimed to land on the platform. He also overshot it by six feet on both that and the next four attempts; he was so used to judging distances according to his normal speed that he wasn't entirely prepared for making jumps now that this speed appeared to have doubled.

Robotnik stared. He'd been expecting this machine to work against Sonic (and in all fairness to him, it probably would have without the Chaos Emeralds) but even if Sonic had managed to beat it he'd be so exhausted – and possibly injured to boot – that Robotnik could finish him off easily.

Now though...if Sonic had been fast before, now he was virtually untouchable. He'd managed to get a handle on his speed at last and was leaping from platform to eye so fast – with no regard for the deadly laser that erupted at regular intervals – that the whole place seemed to be filled with yellow light.

A series of explosions announced the end of the Eggsterminator and Robotnik backed away rapidly, only realising his mistake when he accidentally walked into the force field controls and inadvertently put his hand on the button to deactivate the barrier between himself and Sonic.

"Thanks doc," Sonic said, smiling at him insincerely.

For a long moment the two enemies just stared at each other; one nervous, the other coolly mocking and Robotnik wondered for the first time just when their roles had been switched.

Then he bolted and Sonic chased after him, running just fast enough to maintain a safe distance between them.

"I'm not gonna kill you, doc," he said coolly.

Robotnik glanced over his shoulder at Sonic and slowed. "You're not?"

At least, that's what Sonic thought he said. The doctor was gasping so hard for breath he was almost unintelligible.

"No, I'm not." A hard smile appeared on the hedgehog's face. "I'm just gonna drive you off the edge of your Wing Fortress and let the ground take care of the job for me. Of course, if you don't start running again right now, I may decide to give you a helpful nudge in the right direction. Then again, if you run much more, you'll probably going to wind up having a heart attack." He shrugged. "Your choice, Robotnik. How do you want to die?"

Robotnik's hand edged towards a red button. If he could only keep that blasted hedgehog's attention diverted long enough...

"Why didn't you do this before?" he demanded. Apart from the need to keep Sonic occupied, he was genuinely curious.

Sonic shrugged. "I didn't have all the Chaos Emeralds before; Tails always kept a couple. I guess it happened when they all came together. Now start running, and whatever you're thinking of doing with that big red button, it's not gonna work."

_Busted_. Robotnik's hand hovered over the button for a heartbeat, then he said, "Well, Sonic, I'm sure you won't mind if I give it the old college try, as we say back on my world."

He punched it hard and a section of the floor slid back to make room for a huge cannon, similar to the ones he'd used back on his Sky Base.

The cannon fired at point-blank range, the shell hitting Sonic and ricocheting off him with such force it took out not only the cannon that had fired it but most of the central strut as well.

There was the groaning screech of tortured metal as the supporting struts tried and failed to hold the weight and half the Wing Fortress fell away.

Sonic smiled coolly, a smile that hid the frantic hammering of his heart.

"Or there's always option number three, doc. This thing plummets to the ground, explodes and kills you. I'm not entirely sure if this new look—" he glanced down at his hide— "will enable me to fly, but it's worth a shot. Don't you think so?"

Amazingly, Robotnik smiled back. "Undoubtedly. But I believe you have overlooked option four, Sonic." He shook his head with remarkable composure for a man who was plunging to his doom in his own wrecked fortress. "Did you think I hadn't planned for this contingency?"

"Did you think I hadn't planned on you planning for this contingency?" Sonic countered, his smile now mocking.

"Well, yes, Sonic, because that sounds rather paranoid. As it happens, I had a backup plan. I have a way off this fortress. _You_, on the other hand, are left to rely on a power source that may well exhaust itself before too long."

Sonic folded his arms, foot tapping impatiently. "I thought a captain was supposed to go down with his ship."

"A captain, perhaps. But nobody's ever said anything about an evil genius." Robotnik's smile broadened. "This isn't over yet, Sonic."

"No, it is." Sonic started forward just as Robotnik turned and ran for a small, nondescript door and hurled himself through it. The hedgehog raced after him, only to have the Wing Fortress suddenly tip up, sending him sprawling along the floor, down another shaft and very nearly off the edge. Even as Sonic watched, the Fortress started to break up around him with an ominous rumbling.

The hedgehog frowned. _Wait a minute...that's an engine!_

As if in response, an aircraft with grey body and red bands on the wings slid past. Sonic could see Robotnik in the cockpit – whether the doctor saw him or not was debatable – body seemingly thrown forward as though he could force the aircraft to go faster with his own weight.

The hedgehog narrowed his eyes.

_No, doc. I'm not letting you go this time._

He raced to the edge of the Fortress and leapt into open air, catching hold of and clinging onto the aircraft grimly. The Emeralds' power was still coursing through him. He only hoped it would keep him alive long enough for Robotnik to reach wherever he was going.

Sonic glanced down at the planet's surface. They were now so high up he could see the Mobian curvature and he paled. Heights had never bothered him, but this was something else.

_Is he going into space_? The thought was staggering to Sonic – Mobians had never really wanted to develop space travel, being perfectly happy and content on their own world – but perhaps it wasn't so far-fetched. Maybe Robotnik was leaving Mobius to go back to his native planet. If that was the case, then Sonic could leave, surely?

He shook his head, furious at himself. No, he couldn't quit; not until he knew for sure that Robotnik was no longer a threat to his world.

But were the Emeralds powerful enough to protect him from space? Sonic didn't know, and he didn't want to find out the hard way either.

Hauling himself forward (and trying to keep out of Robotnik's sight) the hedgehog searched until he located a hatch that he managed to open wide enough to squeeze inside. The hatch slammed back into place with a loud _clang_ that set Sonic's pulse racing.

_Did he hear that? He must have heard that!_

Moving as silently as he could, Sonic padded through the plane, searching desperately for somewhere to hide. The thought occurred to him that he could probably deal with Robotnik right here and right now, but he dismissed it. Better to wait until there was less chance of plummeting to his death. Sonic wasn't a coward, but he was no kamikaze hero either.

An air vent caught his eye and he hesitated. That was so cliché; surely Robotnik had installed security measures?

Well, there was only one way to find out. Sonic pulled off the cover, turned around and somehow managed to climb up backwards in order to replace the cover. Wriggling, not daring to turn around in case he accidentally knocked the cover off again, Sonic pushed himself through the narrow space until he was reasonably far back. It was cramped, it was uncomfortable but he hoped it was also reasonably safe and so he settled in for the duration, staring grimly into the slats of light, waiting for the journey to end.

**Okay...again a little creative licence on my part but it sort of ties in better with the ending :) On to the final Zone! **


	17. Death Egg Zone

**Kj: Thanks :) As to the Chaos Emeralds, yes, perhaps it is ;) Then again, at this stage Sonic knows almost nothing about them and as for Robotnik...you didn't really believe what he was saying to Sonic, did you:P**

**Private somebody: Heh, thanks :D Wing Fortress easy...sure. Except for those receding platforms...that fourth one always (and I mean ALWAYS) knocked the timing out and killed me (scowls at evil platform)**

**Professor Vengeance: Thanks, glad you liked it :D And yes, there will be a _Sonic 3 & Knuckles _adaptation...it's been in the works ever since this one was begun. I just didn't want to upload it before I'd finished :P**

**Lewisty: Thanks :) And it's the NEXT-to-final chappy; there will be one more after this :P**

**Maverick87: Super Sonic does indeed rule...and after promising him for so long (and with this game being his debut) I wouldn't have dared leave him out ;)**

**Az The Dragon: (blushes) Thanks. Will Sonic remain super...keep reading ;)**

**TigerOfTheSpear: Thanks...I think I'm gonna need it :P**

**Ice the Rabbit: Heh, thanks...actually, it's only very recently that I managed to get to the Robotnik of Wing Fortress; I was already working on writing that chapter based on walkthroughs and screenshots ;) Made it in the end though (coughdebugcough) ;)**

**Dragonuk: (blushes) Thanks. Well...I've heard don't like people replying to reviews at the beginning of fics, but I've read and reread the guidelines and it's not mentioned there :P**

**The trouble is if someone takes time to review I think it only fair to say thanks...and the trouble with _that_ is that because I also welcome anonymous reviews, I can't PM everyone who reviews to thank them and it always struck me as kind of unfair that some people get thanked and some don't. I really, honestly don't want to stop publicly thanking people, but yours isn't the first warning I've had and so I probably will phase it out gradually at some point...probably after this fic...**

**TC Chan: Thanks :D Super along the top...man, I have to try that! Anything to avoid the platforms :) And the big robot...oh yeah. Definitely the hardest stage :P**

**Gameorama91: Yes on both counts ;)**

**Myuu-san: (grins) Glad you approved :P As to the 260th review...yep, it's yours :D**

**Reko Reborn: Thanks :) As to the rest of it...point taken :)**

**Matt Lans: Thanks :D Super Pissed Super Sonic...hmm...actually, that has a certain Tailsesque flavour to it ;)**

**Milette Tails Prower: (happy smile) Thanks :D In answer to your question, my _Sonic 3 & Knuckles_ adaptation follows on directly from _Rising Star_ (since that was how the games worked). That said, I feel that Sonic's about to have a birthday soon...there may be a few months' gap :P Probably the ages will end up at twelve and five.**

**Pailsey: Thanks...yeah, I miss Tails too. From a writing point of view, probably more than you know ;)**

**TrueVulcanRaven: I'll try ;)**

**Shadow-spawn180: Yeah, I know. I have to admit Wing Fortress was the Zone I was least looking forward to doing for pretty much the reasons you mentioned; at least there's only one more 'solo' Zone to go :P**

**Bitch Wolf: Thanks :D Sonic going into space...well, Super Sonic may be able to survive outside in a vacuum, but I couldn't see Sonic doing it somehow ;)**

"Dammit all to hell!"

Robotnik hurled a wrench overarm at the wall, where it bounced off and fell into the fish tank with a resounding _plunk_.

The doctor ran a hand over his head, leaving an interesting smear of oil behind. He'd been working nonstop on this latest project and it didn't seem to be going particularly well.

With a sigh he walked over to the fish tank, picked up a pair of tongs that lay next to it for just this purpose, retrieved the wrench, pulled the robot piranhas off it, dropped them back into the tank and returned to his work.

_Just once, I'd like to have something go according to plan. I finally get time to perfect this invention and the damn thing doesn't work!_

Breathing hard, Robotnik glared at the invention in question, which stared vacantly back at him. Contrary to popular belief, Robotnik didn't spend every hour of every day building robots, much as he would have liked to. With an enemy like Sonic trashing them left right and centre, it was all Robotnik could do to preserve his current batch of machines, never mind making new ones. This was his latest idea, and he wanted it to be ready for when Sonic showed up, as the doctor had no doubt he eventually would. He wasn't entirely certain _how_ Sonic planned to accomplish this minor miracle, since Robotnik's structure was currently in the Mobian exosphere and rising fast, but he had no intentions of slipping up.

_Although something tells me that Sonic's not going to be along for quite some time._

It has probably already been established that Robotnik was an extremely good scientist. In this case, he also proved to be quite a good prophet; Sonic was currently still wedged in Robotnik's airduct and – incredible though this may seem – asleep.

He hadn't intended to doze off. All the time he'd been glowing yellow, he'd felt full of energy, as alert and refreshed as if he'd just had a good night's sleep followed by half a gallon of coffee. As they'd continued, however, the yellow glow had died away from Sonic's hide, leaving it its normal blue, and it had taken the energy with it. The hedgehog had gone from being wide awake to so exhausted he could barely keep his eyes open, and no matter how much he screamed mentally at himself that it was crazy, that to drop off in this situation was tantamount to suicide, his body fought for sleep and finally won.

It was a good nine hours before Sonic woke up again, and then he was so furious at having fallen asleep in the first place that he spent another fifteen minutes berating himself for his stupidity and five more in pure relief that he hadn't been discovered.

Crawling warily out of the airduct, Sonic hunted around in the deserted shuttle until he found the same hatch that had let him in and which, with a little friendly persuasion in the form of a spindash through the exterior bolts, let him out again.

Robotnik's hangar lay deserted, empty except for his shuttle. Cautiously, every nerve ending in his body screaming that he was going to be attacked at any second, Sonic crept forward, one step at a time, taut and ready for an ambush.

Nothing happened. Was it possible the doctor didn't know he was there? Surely not…no, surely Robotnik would have some kind of early warning system or alarm, or…or…

_Hedgehog detector?_ Sonic wondered with a touch of humour. Still, if Robotnik really _was_ unaware of him, that gave him a valuable edge in the upcoming battle.

_On the other hand_, Sonic thought grimly, _since he knows this place like the back of his hand and I've never been here in my life, I guess that evens us out_.

Then he rounded a corner, caught sight of the viewing ports giving an unrivalled view of Mobian space – and Mobius itself – and lost all thought of anything besides what he was seeing.

For a long time, Sonic stood staring down at Mobius, awed. There were Mobian space facilities – mainly satellites – but space travel wasn't viewed as especially necessary. The Mobian view on such things was that they had a perfectly good planet already. Why would they want another one?

_I gotta be the first eleven year old Mobian ever to go into space! _Sonic lifted his gaze from Mobius to the stars, eyes shining. _Oh man, how cool is _that

Almost immediately the thought struck him: _where are we going_?

Were they going to Robotnik's planet? Sonic had been wondering this on and off ever since he'd hitched a ride on the doctor's shuttle, but he still wasn't any nearer to figuring out the answer. What the hell _was_ this place, anyway?

Tearing himself away from the windows, Sonic headed on. There was still no sign of Robotnik, and now the hedgehog was starting to wonder if he was even there. Had the doctor known about Sonic right from the beginning? Maybe he'd taken another way out and abandoned Sonic up here, knowing there was no way the hedgehog could escape?

Sonic narrowed his eyes slightly as he caught sight of a control panel.

_I may just surprise you, doc_.

Crossing over to it, he studied it for a few minutes and then pulled on the altitude lever, causing the spacecraft to descend rapidly back towards the Mobian surface. He didn't do it particularly smoothly, and the resultant jolt almost flattened him against the ceiling.

In the construction room, Robotnik spun around with astonishing speed for a man of his size.

_I'll be damned! The hedgehog actually made it!_

He chuckled softly. Irritating though Sonic was, he couldn't help but admire the hedgehog's determination.

Rubbing his hands together like a demonic kindergarten teacher, Robotnik grinned broadly as he glanced at his invention. Time for a test run.

Sonic, meanwhile, was moving as slowly and silently as he could through the base, fur on end...although in his case it was so short it didn't make much difference to his general size. Since leaving the altitude controls he'd found himself in a room that had no viewing ports, had, in fact, nothing but several panels and pistons that reminded him strongly of the factory back in Metropolis Zone, albeit in a coffee colour.

One of those smaller panels slid up now to reveal Robotnik's face, gloating from behind solid glass.

"Welcome aboard my Death Egg, Sonic." The doctor's voice was pleasant, almost cordial, as though Sonic was an honoured guest instead of an intruder. "I take it that was you who changed the altitude?"

"Yeah." Sonic bit the word off at the end, not wanting to bandy words with this creature anymore than he absolutely had to.

"Impressive. Before we get down to business, I have one question—"

"I thought the intended victim was supposed to get the last request, doc."

Robotnik smiled indulgently. "Tell me how you got on board, Sonic."

The hedgehog curled his lip. "I hitched a lift with a passing alien. Now let's get going. Talking to you leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

"As you wish, Sonic." Robotnik pushed a button on the control panel and a hatch in the ceiling opened up to admit a new kind of robot which descended in a slow, controlled manner to regard the hedgehog with cold red eyes.

Sonic stared, for once at something of a loss. It was a...well...he _supposed_ it was a hedgehog, albeit one almost twice the size of him and constructed from large segments of dark grey metal.

"Any questions before we start?" Robotnik asked.

"Yeah," Sonic retorted. He pointed at the chunky, ugly robot. "When you designed that, exactly _what_ kind of hedgehog did you have in mind?"

Robotnik smirked. "You'll find out very soon. Sonic, meet Robo-Sonic."

"Robo _what_?"

"You heard." Reaching down, Robotnik flicked switches to bring Robo-Sonic to life.

Without waiting to see what would happen, Sonic ran forward, hit the brakes and started to spindash. Much to Robotnik's surprise, he didn't charge forward; instead he remained in that same position, rotating so fast on the spot the doctor couldn't make out anything except a blue blur.

Robo-Sonic charged forward with all the deceptive speed and grace of a tiger and ploughed straight through its organic counterpart, knocking him out of the spindash and into the opposite wall.

Sonic's plan had worked, however; the spindash had protected him from the robot's initial charge and he was relatively unscathed, which was more than could be said for Robo-Sonic; the machine was spitting miniature lightning bolts from one hip.

Robotnik pushed a button. Robo-Sonic wasn't sufficiently advanced yet to think for itself; the doctor hadn't had time to fix it up with AI and so was having to control it with a small panel currently worn around his neck like an accordian.

_Damage report: 50_

No! It wasn't possible! It wasn't _fair_! How could Sonic have half wrecked it already?

"Get a load of _this_, Sonic!" Incensed now, Robotnik began pushing buttons in a frenzy and Robo-Sonic curled over into its own version of the spindash. It was nowhere near as fast as Sonic, but the blades sticking out of it were likely to make up the difference.

Sonic didn't answer the doctor, didn't give any sign that he'd even heard. His entire attention was focused on Robo-Sonic and Tails' description of Sonic himself came into his head unbidden.

_A great big blue flying buzzsaw thingy of death_.

The hedgehog smiled. Substitute _blue_ for _grey_ and that wasn't a bad summation.

Robo-Sonic exploded into action, racing towards him faster than Sonic had anticipated; the thing's slow rate of spinning had fooled him into thinking it would move at that same pace as well. As it was, one of the blades flicked into Sonic's calf, and it was only the hedgehog's rapid dart out of harm's way that stopped it from taking his leg off.

Limping, Sonic risked taking his attention off Robo-Sonic for a few seconds to check the damage.

Mistake.

Big mistake.

By the time Sonic realised just how big, Robo-Sonic was on him. It wasn't spinning; it was simply going backwards and relying on its deadly blades to do the job. Pain knifed into Sonic's torso as the robot's weapons made contact, cutting into the muscles there as though they were made out of cheese.

Grinning broadly, Robotnik slowed the speed.

_Let Sonic suffer. Let him die slowly for everything he's done to me, all the times he's got in my way..._

There seemed to be no question that Sonic would die. The blades were grinding into him, almost into vital organs now. Blood was dribbling freely from the newly inflicted lacerations and over the blades to drip on the floor.

Sonic screamed. He didn't want to, he'd been determined to die without giving Robotnik that satisfaction, but he couldn't help it; the pain was excruciating. He couldn't even spindash; curling over would bring his throat straight into one of those deadly blades. The pressure was crushing him against the wall – he could feel his own blades being forced into it like they had been back on the Wing Fortress – and to make matters worse, Robo-Sonic's head had somehow turned round one hundred and eighty degrees and its glowing red eyes were fixed on him, pitiless, remorseless, without even a shred of mercy.

"Give it up, Sonic." Robotnik's mocking voice sounded tinnily distant in Sonic's ears, a cruel parody of the hedgehog's own words to Robotnik way back on the Sky Base.

Sonic struggled to think. His brain was nagging at him, telling him something about his blades...something about Wing Fortress...

The hedgehog shook his head, trying to focus. He seemed to be looking out on the world from behind a gauze curtain – albeit one made of pure dizziness – and let his eyes drop closed.

_C'mon Sonic!_ The voice was Tails', and it seemed so real that for a minute the hedgehog thought the little fox was in the room with him.

The last image of Tails came into Sonic's mind at that point; Tails refusing to leave the Tornado, grimly fighting to bring it back under control as it plummeted towards flaming ruin.

_Yeah._ Sonic forced his eyes open, bullied them into focusing on Robo-Sonic's detached stare. _Tails didn't quit. Neither will I._

He stretched up, fighting to suppress the next scream as the pain was quadrupled by the action, then his questing fingers found what they were looking for; a protruding panel. It would have to do.

Gripping it as tightly as he could, Sonic pulled his body up, another agonised scream forcing its way out as he hauled himself backwards up the wall like he had on the outside of the Wing Fortress, the action dragging Robo-Sonic's blades down through his body.

"What are you doing?"

Sonic's ears heard Robotnik's words, but his brain failed to register them. One hand slid up to get a better hold on another panel, tilting his body and directing the robot's blades on a diagonal path, teeth gritted against the pain and unconsciousness so hard his entire jaw was aching.

Gathering all his strength, he wrenched himself up an extra couple of feet, the blades emerging from his flesh with a sudden rush.

Deprived of Sonic's mass between itself and the wall, Robo-Sonic's own impetus drove it forward into the side of the room with devastating speed and force before Robotnik could correct the mistake.

_Damage report: 75_

The last vestiges of his strength giving way, Sonic's hand slithered off the panel and he tumbled onto Robo-Sonic, inadvertently slicing into it with his own blades (and bringing the damage level up to eighty seven point five percent, Robotnik noted sourly) before rolling off and onto the floor where he lay motionless, blood leaking out of his horrific injuries to puddle underneath him until his fur was soaked with it. Even the most medically inept watcher could tell that he would bleed to death before too long, if he hadn't already.

Placing his controls on a workstation, Robotnik left the viewing panel and entered the room via a hidden door in the wall. Crossing to his enemy's unmoving form, he stood there, looking down on the hedgehog who had been a thorn in his side for so long.

Five minutes ticked off the clock and Robotnik didn't do anything. He justified this by saying to himself that he wasn't _going_ to do anything until he'd finished savouring his victory, but the reality was that he simply didn't know what _to_ do. A dead hedgehog was of no use to him, and Robotnik's enmity towards Sonic didn't stretch to the point of desecrating the hedgehog's corpse.

Maybe he was either consciously or subconsciously demonstrating a certain level of respect for the hedgehog. Sonic had certainly been a worthy opponent, and had kept fighting right to the very end. It wouldn't be the same without him.

"You fought well," he said, impassively but with a stamp of sincerity in his voice, turned and walked away.

He'd got as far as the end of the room when a hoarse voice from behind said, "Thanks, doc."

Robotnik froze mid-step.

_No! It's not possible!_

Carefully, he turned, staring at the hedgehog who was now lying on his side. The hideous gashes were still carved into his body, but they were no longer bleeding.

Even as Robotnik watched, Sonic pushed himself to his feet, swaying. The grin became more sickly and he held up a finger, eyes not quite focused.

"One second, doc."

Turning, he spat blood onto the floor, then hobbled over to Robo-Sonic's inert form, holding his left arm with his other hand.

As Robotnik watched, too stunned to do anything – although with Robo-Sonic's controls a hundred yards away in another room, he wasn't sure what he _could_ do – Sonic turned around and went backwards in a slower, more painful version of the robot's last attack and didn't stop until he heard the crackle and fizz of burnt out components.

Pulling himself out again, he looked at the astounded doctor and his smile widened. "One down."

"You should be dead!"

"No kidding." Sonic himself didn't understand what had happened; his bleeding had stopped suddenly and his mind was clear, but physically he still felt too weak to do much more than stand.

Robotnik barely even registered the destruction of Robo-Sonic and Sonic's own dragging approach towards the doctor; his senses were too busy shouting that this wasn't possible, couldn't be possible.

When Sonic was six feet away from him, Robotnik's survival instinct kicked in and he turned and ran, heading straight for the bridge.

Sonic followed him, not fast because he didn't think his body would take it, but not particularly slowly either. His entire attitude was that of someone who's been through so much pain they've come out the other side and are beyond feeling anything.

Robotnik opened what Sonic thought was a circular hatch and jumped down it, and the hedgehog smiled slightly.

"You really think that's going to stop me, Robuttnik?"

"Actually, Sonic—" the floor slid away in segments to reveal the red and yellow monstrosity lurking beneath it, one which rose up and stepped onto the bridge as the floor clicked back into place underneath— "yes, I do."

The hedgehog stared at the robot for a few minutes, then curled his lip. "A giant robot of yourself, doc? That's cheesy even for you."

Robotnik smiled lazily, like a cat. "Well, your little pet shouldn't go putting ideas in my head, should he?"

The hedgehog's eyes narrowed. "And just what do you call that one? The Hedgehog Eggstinguisher?"

Robotnik snorted, inwardly wondering why on earth he hadn't come up with that one. "Close, Sonic, but not quite enough to pass. This is my Eggstreme Annihilator."

"Right..."

"You know you're not going to win this one, Sonic. You couldn't have beaten this at full health and now you're nearly _dead. _Why continue the fight?"

Sonic lifted his head and looked Robotnik squarely in the eyes, a broad grin spreading across his face. "Haven't you heard, doc? I'm Sonic the hedgehog. It's what I do."

"Have it your way." The robot took a long, lumbering step forward, one foot crashing down onto the deck with such force Sonic was amazed the floor still held. One arm – sporting three vicious looking claws at the end instead of fingers – surged forward. It was about six feet above Sonic's head, but it meant it was almost impossible for the hedgehog to dodge it and attack at the same time.

If he'd been fully healthy, Sonic could possibly have finished it off in a dozen or so hits. As it was, it took all he could do to keep himself out the way.

_Maybe I can get it from behind._

Sonic dived forward, racing between the robot's legs and turned, eyeing it up contemplatively as it stopped moving. Was it going to try and turn? He'd aimed to attack it from the rear on the basis that a robot as large and cumbersome as this one couldn't maneuver easily, but had he been wrong?

The question of the Eggstreme Annihilator's agility was never resolved, however, since that was the point when Sonic saw what was either torpedos or rocket-shaped mines erupting from between the shoulders and bolted back the way he'd come as the explosions went off behind him.

Glancing to his side, he noticed the full length viewing ports with a certain amount of trepidation; the Death Egg was still high enough to be showing stars on black as opposed to blue sky. Somehow he had to delay Robotnik enough for the base to re-enter the Mobian atmosphere.

Turning, determined to try and stall for time, Sonic prepared to jump. He could see only one real chance; he had to jump on top of one of those arms and from there to the top of the machine, attempt to get to Robotnik that way.

As he was readying himself forthat leap, all the while doubting his battered body could manage what looked like a dizzyingly high altitude in his current state, Robotnikleapt first.

For a few seconds, Sonic could only stare. He'd never supposed something that size could _jump_, much less jump three or four times its own height.

Looking up, he saw it moving as it ascended until it was directly above him, and he raced forward, skidding to a stop in front of the door he'd come through before.

_No, I can't go back there; he'll only follow or do something even worse._

A shadow fell across the hedgehog and he glanced up again to see the robot overhead. It looked like it had reached the apex of its jump; it was starting to descend.

Right on top of him.

Sonic ran again, limping now. Whatever had stopped his bleeding (_and just what had done that, anyway?_ he wondered) hadn't healed his injuries; it had just prevented them getting any worse.

The robot slammed onto the floor, denting it slightly. The force of the landing caused it to sway forward, almost as though it was bowing.

Sonic looked at the massive metal stomach in front of him, then leapt and rammed into it with as much force as he could muster.

He barely had enough time to duck as the laws of physics brought the robot's top half forward again and Robotnik took advantage of the position to shoot one of the deadly metal arms at the hedgehog.

Rolling frantically out the way of the massive feet (one of which pounded down on the exact spot where he'd been not seconds before) Sonic tried to think.

_Okay. I can't get up to the top, so I gotta bring it down to my level somehow._

But how? Although it was almost guaranteed that Robotnik would jump again (and quite possibly that the Eggstreme Annihilator's upper body would swing forward again) Sonic didn't much fancy his chances of dodging it over and over again. A couple of the slashes on his chest had already been pulled apart by his actions against this thing, and were bleeding again.

Sonic gave ground in front of the approaching machine, trying to work out a way of bringing it down long enough to mount an attack on the top and its occupant.

Something touched his quill and he let out a yell and whirled, coming face to face with nothing more deadly than the wall.

He wasn't face to face with it for long, however, since a metal arm punched through it, narrowly missing Sonic. Ducking and rolling out the way, Sonic dived between the legs again and this time kept going to the opposite side, well out of range of the bombs.

His foot caught in something and he sprawled onto the ground, blackness crashing through his head. Half pushing himself upright, Sonic spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor and turned to see a slightly buckled floor section.

Actually, now that he thought about it, all the floor in about a ten foot radius seemed to be cracked and damaged. Robotnik might build sturdy fortresses, but a barrage of explosives followed by a multi-ton robot from a great height was asking a lot out of any floor surface.

Sonic stared at the ground, at the cracks there, and felt the pieces fall into place in his mind.

_That's it! Come on, doc; one more jump...just one more..._

Robotnik jumped.

Sonic ran to the end of the room and then back as he'd done the first time, then started to prepare a spindash. Halfway through, he slowed, stopped and collapsed onto his side. Desperately he tried to push himself up, to keep going, but it seemed his body had finally had enough. Looking down, Robotnik grinned broadly.

"Game over, Sonic."

He locked onto the hedgehog and cut the thrusters, sending the Eggstreme Annihilator down.

At the last possible minute, Sonic snapped onto his feet and darted to the other side of the room, leaving Robotnik to crash onto the damaged floor which finally gave way, causing the gargantuan robot to slide back into the niche it had been stored in. Its return was nowhere near as elegant as its emergence; it didn't land exactly in the niche and the resultant grinding down the inside took six feet off the front of it, the noise of tortured metal on metal echoing in the room.

Opening the hatch, coughing as smoke billowed around him, Robotnik caught sight of the hedgehog standing just in front of him, arms folded, foot tapping and with a grin on his face which belied the considerable pain he must still be feeling.

"There's always extra time, doc."

Unable to believe he'd lost a second time – and to a Sonic that had been almost incapacitated – Robotnik stared for a long time, then a slight answering smile appeared on his face.

"I believe you're right, Sonic. You'll be pleased to know I took your advice."

"About naming your sick little devices?"

"No." Dragging himself out of his Eggstreme Annihilator, Robotnik hobbled over to the wall. "About installing a self-destruct switch."

Sonic stared in disbelief as the doctor flipped open a hidden panel, revealing the switch in question. In keeping with both tradition and the general colour scheme, it was bright red.

"No. _Way_," Sonic said incredulously.

Robotnik grinned at him. "I suggest you start running, Sonic."

The hedgehog shook his head, although he was already backing off. "You wouldn't."

"I assure you I would."

"You didn't push any self destruct button when I wrecked your Sky Base, doc."

Robotnik scowled at him, no longer grinning. "Firstly, Sonic, I hadn't equipped it with such a nicety and secondly, the _Sky Base _happened to be _insured_!"

Thinking about that seemed to be the catalyst; Robotnik's hand slammed towards the button and Sonic ran for his life.

The hedgehog never knew where the explosion originated from. All he knew was that he was suddenly racing a wall of flame that seemed to be getting nearer and nearer with every second, desperately hoping that they were far enough into the atmosphere for the air to be breathable.

He shot out of the Death Egg like a cannonball and at a comparable speed as well, starting to tumble through the air as a pillar of flame exploded out above him. The incandescent heat was overpowering; Sonic could literally feel his fur crinkling, his body shrieking against this new abuse and he closed his eyes tightly, rolling over onto his belly. Anything was better than seeing those flames; they were too reminiscent of what Tails had most likely gone through.

_Almost anything_, he corrected himself, seeing the Mobian surface thousands of feet below him. His breathing was harsh and laboured – whether that was due to the fire, the lack of oxygen this high up, his own fear or all three together, Sonic didn't know – and he had a grim foreboding that pretty soon lack of oxygen was going to be the least of his troubles.

What was the terminal velocity of a hedgehog? Sonic guessed there was some calculation based on weight and gravity to work it out, but he didn't suppose it mattered; it was likely to be far too fast for him to survive. He wondered if he could use the Emeralds like he had before (and if the changes they caused would enable him to fly, or at least not crash quite so hard) but one look at them answered that question; they lay in his bag like so many rocks. Six of them were glowing very faintly, but the seventh – the light blue one – was dead.

Sonic closed his eyes. He wasn't thinking anything specific, but if his current emotion could be translated into words, it would be something like, _I guess it's fitting in a strange way_.

Oddly enough there was no real terror anymore. When he'd been trying to stop Robotnik killing him, there had been plenty of terror, but now the decision _re_ Sonic's death had been taken out of the hedgehog's hands, there was only a kind of dull resignation.

_Yeah,_ he thought. _Robotnik's gotta be dead – nobody could have survived that – and so's Tails. Poor little guy. He never really had a chance, not this time. I should have left him in Metropolis._

At that point he crashed into something with the force of a bullet. His head hit a hard surface with an audible _crack_ and his last conscious thought was, _Funny; I thought the ground was a lot further down than that_.

Then everything went black.

**(deep breath) Well, it's not quite over; there's still one more chapter to go, kind of an ending one that ties up the loose ends :D Hope you liked this and if you read, please review!**


	18. Epilogue

**Kj: Thanks :) As to your guesses...well, you got two out of three ;)**

**Milette Tails Prower: (blushes) Thanks, glad you enjoyed it so much :D**

**Awdures: Thanks :)**

**TigerOfTheSpear: Sorry, but everything has to end sometime :P As for the next adaptation...well, I'll try my best :)**

**Maverick87: (blushes again) Thanks, and you're welcome :D**

**Gameorama91: And you're probably right ;) As to the next adaptation, it was uploaded along with this one, so you shouldn't have too long to wait :P**

**Ben7el: Heh, thanks :) SA1/2...to be honest it's not on the cards right now, for two reasons; firstly because with a lot of the dialogue implanted, it makes a large part of my job redundant (and takes out the fun for me) and secondly because I've never managed to play SA2 (C'mon Sega, when're you gonna remember your loyal Sonic PC fans?) There is a Sonic 1 adaptation in the works however, and a story which gradually becomes an adaptation of Knuckles Chaotix.**

**Az The Dragon: Thanks. And yes, there is another adaptation which was uploaded (at least the first chapter) along with this one; it's a Sonic 3 & Knuckles one :P**

**TC Chan: Thanks. And the two-tailed one did appear; Sonic just didn't see him, and if he didn't see him nobody else gets to ;)**

**Tucker's Mayflower: (blushes some more) Wow, thanks :D As for the S3&K...you don't have long to wait ;)**

**Private somebody: Thanks :) Robo-Sonic and the Eggstreme Annihilator were kinda hard; I wanted to have it like in the game, where it's so easy for Sonic to die :P As for the Chaos Emeralds...they seem to be able to power themselves to a certain extent. I was working on two things with that; firstly that they get completely drained in SA1 and yet manage to recharge themselves, and secondly because I wanted to come up with a credible explanation for why Super Sonic wasn't permanent in the games (okay, so there it's the ring count, but still...) Uh. Does that make sense?**

**Bitch Wolf: Thanks :D As for your comment on the repetition (looks around guiltily, hastily edits and replaces that part in the chapter) Erm...what repetition? ;) I think that was the last part I wrote, I'd been working on it for nine hours solid and I was kinda punch-drunk joining it up to the ending part ;) Still, all fixed now and thanks for pointing it out (hugs)**

**Professor Vengeance: Thanks :) I'm not sure who would insure the Sky Base either...maybe someone who didn't really know about Robotnik? (Hey, it was the first game :P)**

**TrueVulcanRaven: Thanks**

**Forgotten Muse: Heh, thanks :D Yeah, I did use the Sonic-Robotnik idea; the potential psychology of it was too much to resist ;) Evil psycho Super-Sonic…no, for the simple reason that Super Sonic isn't going to be a regular figure in adaptations, and when he does appear I'd rather have him as a hero :P As for Sonic 2 beta…well, to be honest, I've never played it, but I saw a hoax screen from Genocide City Zone and fell in love with it; I had to bring it in :P**

**SonicTails123: Thanks, glad you like it so far :D And reviewing every chapter is fine with me ;) I prefer continuous feedback; it lets me know what needs improving and what's working :P**

**Ice the Rabbit: Thanks. As to what Sonic landed on…you'll find out ;) And yes, there will be more adaptations. Tails Adventures…hmm, never really played that one. I'll check it out. A Sonic Chaos adaptation is a definite possibility…**

**Matt Lans: Silver Sonic…Robo-Sonic…Metal Sonic…they all seem to be the same to me :P I called him Robo because that was how he was referred to in a couple of reviews, that's all ;) As for the title…hmm. Actually, I kinda like it, though I might shorten it and call it simply Genesis ;)**

**Poridet: (goes red) Thanks :) Sonic…well, I think he'll probably be alright ;)**

**Shadow-spawn180: (goes redder) Thanks...Robotnik is...well, I think in many ways he's a big kid at heart. You know the kind; the sort of kid who likes burning ants with a magnifying glass ;) As for responding to reviews, don't worry. I'll take my chances. While I do know someone who got reported by some petty, spiteful member and had all their fics erased by admin, I'm not about to break the habit of a lifetime (hey, I got backups of all my fics :P) Besides, it's about the only way I can answer questions posed by anonymous reviewers ;)**

**Qwerty: My other fic will be updated when it's updated. That's all.**

**Dr Namgge:D Thanks. Robotnik's survival…ah, how indeed:P**

A bright light lanced into Sonic's eyes, waking him even through closed lids...something he wasn't too unhappy about. Ever since his abrupt landing from the Death Egg, he'd been dreaming. Not about Robotnik, but about Robo-Sonic; above all, those eyes. The cold red triangles...very nearly the last thing he'd ever seen...

Opening his own eyes, he sat up groggily. Neither eye seemed to want to focus properly and he raised a heavy hand to rub them. There. That was better.

Except he didn't have a clue where he was.

Looking around, however, he was willing to admit that he wouldn't mind staying there. He was sitting in a forest clearing on a bed of thick, emerald green moss. Grass and flowers of every conceivable colour, size and scent surrounded him, and he could see a creek bubbling down the far end.

Something touched his ear and he let out a yell, spinning around to face this new adversary, preparing to spindash.

The large turquoise and black butterfly gave him what would probably pass for an aggrieved look among other butterflies, then fluttered off.

"Sorry," Sonic called after it, then returned his attention to his surroundings. Pella trees, most bowed down with fruit, lined the clearing and he shook his head, astonished. "Where...?"

"Sonicsonicsonicsonic_sonicsonicSONIC_!"

Before the hedgehog had a chance to react, something small and fluffy had raced over to him and hurled itself into his arms, knocking him to the ground and igniting fireworks in his lacerations.

"What..." Sonic forced his eyes to focus on his assailant, a task that was made harder by the fact that the person seemed to be wriggling about all over the place. "_Tails_?"

"SONIC!" Tails flung small arms around Sonic's neck and hugged him tightly, locking both legs around his hero's waist as the hedgehog got somewhat unsteadily to his feet.

"Am I...are we dead?"

Tails giggled as he dropped to the ground and shifted his hug to Sonic's waist, both his namesakes wagging vigorously and twining around each other in pure happiness. "Nuh uh! I catched you in my plane an' took you back here to wake up! You been asleep for _ages_, Sonic, ages an' ages an' _ages_! Guess you were real tired after whumping ol' Robotnik, huh?"

"But..." Sonic swallowed. "The Tornado...I saw you fall..."

"Oh sure, but I managed to land okay an' I fixed it up real good jus' like back in Em'rald Hill Zone, 'member, Sonic? I even got it to go faster!"

The hedgehog continued staring wordlessly at the little fox for so long that Tails squirmed.

"Uh...Sonic? Did I do something bad when I fixed your plane? 'Cause I can put it back to how it was before if you want. I on'y speeded it up 'cause I wanted to get to you real fast."

Sonic didn't answer, just stared.

"Sonic? C'mon, please say something. I'm real sorry if I did something bad, but I didn't wanna let you die. If you wanna yell at me, 'sokay, but c'n you do it an' get it over with?"

Sonic dropped to his knees in front of Tails, never breaking his gaze, then caught hold of the little fox and hugged him as tightly as he could.

"I thought you were dead," he said hoarsely.

Tails giggled. "Why'dja think _that,_ Sonic? I'm right here, see?" He paused, worried now. "Sonic? Sonic, how come you're crying?" Ears drooping, he added, "Did…did you _want_ me to be dead?"

"_No_." Sonic reached up, ran one hand over the fur on Tails' head and clenched it in his fist so hard Tails yipped in protest. "Tails, you are the best, coolest, most amazing guy I have ever met. I'm sorry I got you into this mess."

"You didn't, Sonic. I wanted to come, 'member? Sonic, please leggo my fur now; you're hurting me."

"I'm sorry, lil bro." Sonic released his hold, rubbing away the pain. "Where are we?"

"Forgotten already, Sonic?"

That voice…Sonic glanced up, his utter relief at Tails' survival eclipsed by this newcomer. Getting to his feet again, he stepped forward, instinctively shielding Tails.

"Mighty?"

Wriggling past, Tails grabbed Sonic's hand and looked up at him. "'Sokay, Sonic, Mighty's a nice guy now. He helped me fix the Tornado an' he showed me this place where you'n'me could stay 'til you woke up!" Tails looked around. "'Sa real nice place, Sonic. You're real lucky to have grown up here, huh?"

"Grown up?" Sonic met Mighty's cool, almost amused gaze and felt icy rods fuse his spine together. "This is Green Hill Zone?"

Tails nodded vigorously. "Yup! I thought you'd wanna come home 'cause when I was hurt or scared or anything _I_ always wanted to go home."

"Great," Sonic said, not really listening. "Get your stuff, kiddo. We're leaving."

"What?" Puzzled, and somewhat hurt at this flat declaration, Tails fell back a couple of paces, glancing from Sonic to Mighty in the hope that one of them would give him some answers. "How come?"

"I think," Mighty said evenly, "that your big brother's frightened I'm going to keep that promise I made to him when he first left Green Hill."

"You're damn straight," Sonic said, a definite wariness in his gaze. "As far as I'm concerned though, this doesn't count, Mighty; I was out like a light when Tails brought me here, and the little guy's intentions were good."

"I'm _not_ little! I'm five years old an' that's not little, Sonic, no way!"

Mighty held up a hand. "Relax, Sonic. I'm not gonna blow the whistle on you."

Tails' ears pricked up. "You got a whistle? Cool! C'n I blow it after you?"

"You're...not?" Sonic said, still eyeing the armadillo like he would a bomb.

Mighty shook his head. "No. I'm not."

There was a silence, broken only by a seemingly oblivious Tails trying to sneak up and pounce on Mighty's shadow (his own had a tendency to pounce back no matter how hard he tried to surprise it).

"So when did you decide that this wasn't just one big ego trip for me?" Sonic said acidly, throwing the armadillo's words back at him.

Mighty at least had the grace to drop his eyes. "When Tails brought you back. No amount of fame and publicity's worth getting carved up like you were." His voice became slightly more awed as he said, "What _did_ that to you?"

Sonic swallowed and looked away. "Just…some sick device of Robotnik's, that's all." A shiver ran through his body. "Man, I really thought he'd killed me that time."

"He nearly did." Mighty glanced at Tails, who was now occupied in stalking Sonic's unsuspecting foot. "I wanted to get you some help, but to be honest you were in such bad shape I wasn't sure you'd survive the journey." He paused, and Tails pounced only to find Sonic's foot had moved. Scowling at it, he turned away, arms folded.

"Jungle Zone has a good hospital—" Mighty began.

Sonic reacted. "No _way_! Not after what happened last time!"

"What?" Curious now, Mighty glanced at him. "What did happen last time?"

"I wound up in hospital there, in the kids' ward. There was this nurse...a hen...it was always..." Sonic hesitated, then put on a fussy female voice. "Now children, let's sit down and have a nice little story all about a happy little bunny rabbit who went hippity hop on a wonderful adventure."

Mighty laughed. "Oh man! Puke city!"

"You got it! I kept trying to tell her I had to keep moving, that Robotnik was probably building more robots while we were just sitting there, but it was always the same." Sonic put on the female voice again. "Don't you worry, dear, I'm sure there are plenty of brave people who'll take care of that nasty Mr Robotnik. You just concentrate on getting well again and if you're a good little hedgehog and brush your toothypegs I may even find you a special little treat and we have to keep our teethies nice and white, don't we, for the tooth fairy to come along and leave a Mobium for all good little children's teeth, and Mighty if you don't stop grinning like that I'll push you in the creek," Sonic added in his normal voice.

"Didn't you tell her you dealt with Robotnik?" the armadillo said, still grinning.

"Oh sure. But while I'd been unconscious, some baboon had snuck in and taken credit for it!" Even now, the memory of that still stung. "I'm convinced she still thinks I was just a cute little orphan with a hyper imagination."

"What's a hyper masha...manga...magga...thing?" Tails wanted to know.

"Means she thought I was lying about beating Robotnik."

Tails inflated with indignation. "She thought _what_? Man, we gotta tell her she was wrong, Sonic! You're the coolest guy _ever_!"

Sonic glanced away. "I'm not that cool, Tails."

The little fox giggled. "Sure you are, Sonic! You saved the whole worl'! Two times!"

In an effort to take his mind off the most recent fight, Sonic looked around. "You still haven't told me where we are, squirt."

"In Green Hill Zone, 'member? Mighty took us here an' said nobody 'cept you an' him really knew about it an' that you used to hang out up there." Tails pointed very carefully upwards and Sonic looked up to where a few charred timbers were still balanced across two of the stoutest branches, looked down to the rope and pole ladder that had – miraculously – survived Robotnik's invasion and felt memories come flooding back.

"The clubhouse?"

"What's a clubhouse?" Tails asked.

Sonic swallowed. "Mighty's dad built it for us." He glanced at the armadillo. "Kind of a joint birthday present. We'd spend just about every single day up here bumming around, reading comic books—"

"—and dropping water balloons on passing people," Mighty finished. "At least until we got caught."

"What happened?" Tails wanted to know, looking up at Sonic eagerly.

The hedgehog glanced up at the armadillo and his lips quirked as he said, "Mighty's dad got a lot of complaints that morning. So he brought all our targets back and got Mighty to stand in the middle while they pelted him with the rest of those balloons."

"You got out of that, though," Mighty muttered.

"Oh sure; I just got grounded for a week! I wasn't allowed out except to rake the yard, wasn't allowed to talk to my friends on the phone and was banned from any video games." Sonic shot Mighty a sour look. "And when I did get to play again, I found _someone_ had knocked me off the high scores!"

"It wasn't easy either."

"Excuse me? I happen to be the Zonal champion of _Demolition Dogfight_! Of course it wasn't easy!"

Tails frowned perplexedly at Sonic. "Are you _really_ the champion or are you jus' saying that to sound cool?"

"No, he really is," Mighty said resignedly. "He and I got together with all the kids in Green Hill Zone one Saturday and organised a league table for matches, and Sonic won the lot."

"Wow." The adoration in Tails' gaze, if it was possible, increased even more. "I never knew you were a Zonal champion, Sonic. An' you picked _me_ for your best friend!" The little fox shook his head in wonder. "You're so cool!"

Tails referring to him as his friend reminded Sonic of what had happened on Wing Fortress, and he swallowed.

"Tails?"

"Yup?"

"When I was on the Wing Fortress...and you...well, you went down..."

"Yup?"

Sonic glanced away. "Robotnik burned the drawing, lil bro."

"Huh?" Tails frowned. "What drawing?"

"That one you did in Emerald Hill Zone, remember?"

"Oh, that." The little fox shrugged. "'Sokay, Sonic, it was on'y a dumb picture."

"Not to me it wasn't," Sonic said quietly.

"Yeah, but I on'y did it so's you wouldn't forget me an' now I'm gonna be with you forever an' ever an' ever, huh Sonic?" Worried now, Tails peered up into Sonic's face. "I am still gonna stay with you, right?"

"Hmm." Sonic dropped onto Tails' eye level and put on a solemn expression. "Do you _promise_ that you'll take your weekly bath every Wednesday?"

Tails hesitated, then said, "What 'bout a shower?"

"Alright, a bath or a shower," Sonic conceded. "Do you promise?"

The little fox nodded vigorously, eyes shining.

"And do you promise to eat everything on your plate?"

Tails' jaw dropped. "You want me to promise to eat stuff, Sonic? Sure!"

"Okay, that's two," Sonic said lightly. "Now for the third one, and it's a biggie, squirt."

Tails flattened his ears apprehensively. "W-what?"

"Do you promise that you'll help me look after the Tornado and keep it in good repair?"

The little fox hesitated. "What's that mean, Sonic?"

"Keep it working and keep altering it with your tools," Mighty translated, having followed this exchange with no small amusement.

"Oh that? You _bet_!" Tails fixed Sonic with a mock stern look. "An' now _you_ gotta promise me stuff, Sonic!"

"Me?"

"Yeah, 'cause otherwise it's not fair!"

Sonic laughed. "Okay squirt. Let's hear it."

"You gotta promise you'll never forget my birthday, Sonic. Never, never, _never_."

"I promise, kiddo."

"An' you gotta promise that we'll always be brothers an' you'll never 'bandon me!"

Sonic laughed again. "Okay, sure; I promise that too."

"An' that I can come with you on all your Robotnik-whumping 'ventures!"

The laughter died out of Sonic's eyes at the mention of Robotnik's name; that last battle had been far too close for comfort.

"I don't think there will be any more Robotnik-whumping adventures, kiddo," he said dully, "but if there are, then I promise you can come providing you stick to our ground rules."

"Okay!" Tails bounced into the air, hovering on Sonic's eye level. "An' you gotta promise me that you'll _never_ make me eat vegetables again, not _ever_!"

Sonic folded his arms. "Now how can I do that when you promised me to eat everything I put on your plate?"

"'S easy, Sonic; jus' don't put vegetables on it."

The hedgehog had to force himself not to laugh – Tails looked so very serious – and instead shook his head. "Nah, I don't think so. You promised me three things and so I only have to promise _you_ three things, otherwise it's not fair, like you said."

Tails sighed gustily. "If I'da known _that_, Sonic, I'da asked for no vegetables first."

A gleam appeared in Sonic's eyes. "Tell you what, kiddo. I promise you don't have to eat vegetables on your birthday, how about that?"

"Okay! An' I'm still gonna go after ol' Robotnik with you, right?"

The gleam died out of Sonic's eyes. "Tails...we may never have to go after Robotnik again."

Mistaking Sonic's look for disappointment, Tails hastened to reassure him.

"Sure we will! 'Cause I don't think he's really dead, Sonic, not ol' Robotnik. Didn't Mighty tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Sonic said edgily.

Mighty hesitated, apparently not sure whether or not to answer Sonic's question, then said, "The – what did you call it? The Death Egg? – the Death Egg never came down, Sonic."

"Good," Sonic said bitingly. "At least Robotnik's not going to be able to cause any mischief up there. Not that he could now anyway," he added.

The armadillo looked a little edgy. "Uh. I didn't explain that right. It started to fall, but it never actually landed. Something must have caught it."

"Yeah," Tails said, beaming. "We might have to go whump ol' Robotnik all over again, huh Sonic? Boy, that's gonna be real cool! Aren't you excited, Sonic?"

Sonic looked up at the night sky. The truth was that he felt nothing at all, no pleasure, no relief, no guilt; just emptiness. Whatever last thread of friendship or grief he felt in connection with Robotnik had finally snapped.

A small hand snuck into Sonic's and Tails leaned against the hedgehog's leg trustingly.

"I'm real glad Sparkly sent you to be my big brother, Sonic."

Sonic glanced up at the star Tails had adopted. The little fox still firmly believed that the star had sent the hedgehog to be his friend, and Sonic was inclined to take that with a pinch of salt, but the fact remained that if he and Tails hadn't met, the hedgehog's corpse would now be rotting in one of the Zones and Tails would most likely have died in Robotnik's attack.

He smiled slightly. Maybe there was something to this wishing on stars business after all...

**(drops into chair exhausted) Well...it's finished. This started out as a nice little side story, purely inspired by a few lines in _Caves of the Ancients_, and...well, snowballing wasn't even in it; it more sort of avalanched from there :P I had no idea it would turn out to be as popular as it was.**

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed (hugs and hands around chocolates in the shape of Sonic characters) You guys rock!**

**And for anyone who hasn't had enough yet, Sonic and Tails' adventure continues in my Sonic 3 & Knuckles adaptation, _Master of the Emeralds_, the first chapter of which was uploaded shortly after this one.**


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